Rose and Thorn
by PencilGirl92
Summary: June moves to Thornville, a town connected to Rosetown. Her own story unfolds while she discovers the stories of OCs and non-OCs (Nook, Sable & Mabel, Porter, K.K., Rover, Brewster, etc). (This is a story I wrote a couple years ago, so not exactly reflecting my latest abilities. But I liked it, so I finished it recently and decided to post it.) Basis: Original GCN Game & a bit WW.
1. Chapter 1

-Chapter 1-

Day One in Thornville

June looked out the window of the train as it went past fields and cities and forests. She was on her way to Thornville, a town she knew barely anything about. She sighed as she adjusted her thick-rimmed, green glasses. She hoped she could get better clothes and accessories than those glasses and her flower-patterned dress. Her short, brown hair, however, she was happy with. What she wanted more than any of that, though, was a home, friends, a life.

"Hey! This seat taken?" She turned and saw a blue and white cat in the aisle.

"Uh…" just like that, her shyness had taken over.

"Sweet!" the cat jumped up in the seat across from her.

She fidgeted uncomfortably and took off her glasses.

"Hey, those are pretty cool rims. Did you get those at the Able Sister's?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, sorry. You're probably not from around here, are you?" The cat smiled. "Let's start with introductions. I'm Rover. What's your name?"

"Uh… June."

"Cool to meet you, June! So, where are you headed?"

"Thornville."

"That's what I thought. Been there before?"

"Uh… no, actually."

"Oh, there to visit a friend?"

"Uh… no…"

"Well?"

"I'm moving there…"

"Oh, sweet! What's your house look like?"

"Well… I, uh, haven't actually bought it yet."

"WHAT?!" The cat looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head. "Your moving to a place you've never seen to a house that may not even exist?!"

"Gee, thanks for sugar-coating it for me…" the girl mumbled under her breath.

"Wait! I think I can help."

"You can?"

"Yeah, there's an old buddy of mine in Thornville. Owes me a couple favors, and if anyone knows about paying up, it's him. Anyway, he runs the store there. Oh! I'll give him a call! Just a sec!" He jumped off the seat and went to the back. June glanced over and saw him dial through the window.

She couldn't hear anything, so she just went back to looking out the window. "Hope it all works out…" She could see her nervous brown almond-shaped eyes showed little more than hope. She kicked her feet back and forth.

"Welp!" She jumped at the cat's voice. "It's all great! Turns out he has another house available. How about that?"

"Another?"

"Oh, yeah. Say hey to Andy for me, won't you? It's been awhile since he rode to Rosetown on this train."

"Andy?"

"Looks like we're here! Good luck, June!"

The train screeched to a stop. June jumped down from her seat and walked to the door. She waited as it opened.

"Welcome to Thornville!" a monkey greeted. "Eek! Eek! Hope your trip was wonderful!"

"Uh… yeah. Thanks…" She walked past him and down the stone stairs. She noticed a map beside the train station and looked at it. "Wow… this place looks huge…"

"Excuse me, are you June?" a voice behind her.

She spun around. "Uh… yeah, that's me."

The brown raccoon grinned a showy grin and waved. "Name's Tom Nook. I'll be showing you to your house now." He wore a striped shirt, orange, white, and blue, and a small orange and blue hat.

"Ah, Rover's friend?"

"Ah, we met on the train one day when I rode to and from the city. I'd call him more of an acquaintance. At any rate, I owe him and that's that. So follow me."

He led her down the stone path as she looked around at the beautiful red, orange, and yellow trees that grew around. "This house will be 19,800 bells."

"N-Nineteen thousand?" June blushed.

"Why of course. It has everything a house requires. A freshly-painted, green roof, a living room with wood floors and plain white wallpaper, and a gyroid."

"HeLlO!" the gyroid danced.

"Is there any way I could… um… knock the price down?"

"How much we talking?"

"Uh…" June mumbled, "18,800 bells…" but Nook heard her.

He started laughing. "You must be out of your mind!" He turned serious. "Come now, how much money do you have?" He held out his paw. She shyly handed him a bag of bells. He looked inside and started laughing again. "Oh this isn't nearly enough!" He chuckled. She hung her head, then looked longingly at the house. "Though… I can't just not let you live there. Winter's coming, and it'll be quite cold…" She looked up at him. "I'll tell you what I'll do. You can live in this house, but you're going to have to pay off your debt."

"How?"

"Come to my shop. I'll have a job for you."

She watched him walk off to his shop. In the meantime, she went into her dark home. One thing she would definitely need is a lamp. She saw only a crate and what looked like the oldest cassette player she had ever seen. "Well… at least it's not completely unfurnished…" She wandered back outside, where the air was getting brisk as the sun was going down. She went in the direction that the raccoon left earlier, eventually coming across _Nook'n'Go_ , a store of decent size. "This must be it…" She stepped inside.

"Ho, ho! The raccoon was laughing as he spoke with someone. He looked like a blue dog, from what June could distinguish. "Oh?" the raccoon looked over his customer's shoulder to see June. She had walked over to an exotic lamp she liked. "Uh-huh, June!" She jumped. "No shopping while apprenticing, my dear."

The dog turned to see the girl blushing and walking sadly away from the lamp. He wore a black shirt with a picture of a white dog with thick black eyebrows on it.

"Now, in that closet there, you'll find a uniform. Put it on and come on out when you're done." June hurried in the back as Nook continued to talk to the dog. She found the green shirt that had a leaf symbol on it and put it on quickly. When she stepped back into the store, the dog was gone. "Ah, lovely. Like you were born to wear it!"

June scratched at its biting material but forced a smile.

"That was Pawpi, my best customer, I'll have you know." Tom Nook dug for something under the register. "'Course, anyone could be a good customer if they just came! …but I digress. Ah! Here we are!" He pulled up a basket. It held potted flowers and a small shovel. "Your first job is to plant these flowers around the store. I never got the time to do it, but I've been meaning to." He held them out. "Hop to it!"

June quickly grabbed the gardening stuff and hurried outside. "He does realize that these flowers are just gonna die come winter time, right?" she mumbled to herself as she tried to break the hard dirt with the shovel. She looked up at the sunset and smiled. "Beautiful…" she whispered under her breath. She just sat to look at it for awhile, then continued her chore. When she was done, she dusted off her shirt and went back inside.

"Ah, I trust you made it look lovely out there?"

"Yessir."

"Still… you did take a little longer than expected… I'll give you… 60 bells. Mighty generous if you ask me." June looked at him anxiously. He started to laugh. "I'm not going to physically give it to you! Your payment goes toward your mortgage, June!"

"Oh…"

"Well, I suppose I should give you the rest of the day off. Be sure to introduce yourself to the neighbors, as you are new here to Thornville. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow, got it?"

"Yessir!"

"That's what I like to hear. Now, move along. And don't you come back in here unless you're wearing that uniform!"

"Yessir."

"Good. As in good-bye. Goodnight… See ya!" He practically pushed her out the door.

She shivered as she got outside and hurried home to change. She left the house and saw another house in the distance. "Well, he's right… I should say hi to the neighbors." She walked to that distant house. "I wonder how many people live in Thornville?"

"Arf! Hey!" June stopped as she saw the dog from earlier coming toward her. "June, right?"

"Uh… yeah."

"Cool. Name's Pawpi!"

She smiled back at him. "It's nice to meet you, Pawpi."

"Arf! You too!" He rubbed his chin, obviously lost in thought. "Say… wanna do me a favor?"

"Uh…"

"Can you give this to Chip for me?" He handed her a small package. "Come back here when you're done. Trust me, it'll be worth your while."

"Uh… sure." June wasn't one to turn down someone in need, but she didn't know why he was asking this chore of her. "Where can I find… um… Chip?"

"Ah, he lives near the wishing well. You don't have a map, do you? What a shame. Well, it's acre F-2 if that helps."

She shrugged and headed south. Before she could go very far, she had to walk down a steep ramp. She treaded carefully, not wanting to slip. As she walked, she came upon a police station. A dog was standing outside the door. "Good evening!" he barked.

June merely smiled in response as she passed by.

"You're not lost, are you?"

"Uh… no… just… finding my way… just fine."

"You don't have a map, do you?"

"Well… no. I'm kinda new."

"Here." The officer handed her a town map, folded neatly.

"Thank you so much, sir!" she took it and opened it up. She could see the police station. South of her was the museum. East of the museum was the wishing well. Below the wishing well was a house marked in non-permanent ink with a label: Chip.

With this information, she was able to continue easily to Chip's house. When she got there, she noticed the light on in his house. She knocked lightly and heard a squeak bid her to enter.

She came into a house of color. All the furniture looked like it belonged in some sort of daycare. Everything from the bed to the dresser was painted in the primary colors.

"Who are you, Chi?" she jumped at the voice, coming from a big-eared, yellow animal. Chip was a mouse.

"I'm s-sorry to intrude… I just… I…" June held out the package. "This is from… Pawpi…?"

"Oh yeah! He promised me a new outfit!" The mouse ripped the package from her hands. "But who are you? I figure you're not his maidservant!"

June blushed. "My name is June."

"Ah! Nice to meet you, Chi! I'm Chip!"

June nodded and smiled. "Well… I'll… go now… Pawpi wanted me to come back when I was done."

"Well you have a good night!" Chip was hurriedly opening the package. "I'll see you around, Chi!"

June left the house and followed her map back to Pawpi's place, another non-permanent house marked on the map. The blue dog was waiting to greet her. "Wow! You're pretty fast, June! You're a natural! You know, a lot of the neighbors here are too lazy or too busy to do some chores and might ask you to help. Never turn them down, because we're also very generous." He handed her a package. "I think you'll like this. It's that lamp you saw at Nook's. I noticed how you had your eye on it, so I thought I'd buy it before he changed stock overnight."

June was shocked as she took the furniture. "Wow… Pawpi… that's so generous of you… Thank you…"

"Go 'head take it back to your pad. And introduce yourself to the other animals around town. I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to meet a new face! It gets kind of boring around here, you know."

"Thanks so much, Pawpi! Thank you!" June ran off to her house to set up the lamp. She put the lamp on the wood crate and moved the tape deck to the floor. When she turned the light on, she was so much happier. Her little house lit up well. She wasted no time heading back out with her map to visit the other houses marked.

She crossed a bridge south of her house and followed the river east to the home of someone named Eggbert. She saw the yellow chicken walking around outside his house. Upon seeing her, he approached. "You're new, Cluck."

He didn't say anything else, so June took that as a question of who she was. "I'm June… I'm new here."

"Ah, of course. That makes sense, Cluck. Nice to meet you. I'm Eggbert."

"Nice to meet you too."

It was clear that their conversation would go no further, so she left east then north to the next house. A dark brown cat was talking with a black bunny in front of the house. June just stood awkwardly to the side, unsure of what to do in this situation. To her relief, the brown cat saw her.

"It seems we have a guest, Huey," the cat smiled.

The bunny, Huey, turned where she was looking. "Hey! Lookie there, Hippity-Hop! She _is_ new!"

"I'm Ginger, and this is Huey. What's your name, Sweetie?"

"June." She felt very comfortable around Ginger. It must have been her sweet demeanor.

The bunny literally bounded over to her, "Welcome to Thornville, Hippity-Hop! You staying long?"

"I actually moved here… just today."

"Well that sounds splendid, Sweetie. So nice of you to come introduce yourself to the neighbors."

June smiled. She noticed that the two of them were wearing the same shirt. Not only that, but Pawpi had that shirt on as well. It was the one with the white dog. "Um… why's everyone wearing that shirt?"

They instinctively looked down at their outfit. "Oh, of course!" the bunny sprang up. "This t-shirt was made by K. K. Slider himself! It's for his debut at Brewster's."

"Who?"

"You're confusing her, Huey," Ginger shook her head. "K. K. Slider is a famous singer. He sings out at the train station on Saturdays. We've always listened to him. It's a big deal here at Thornville. So, in Rosetown, the next town over, he's debuting at a coffee place called Brewster's. He gave us these t-shirts to advertise around Thornville."

"You're… good friends… with a famous singer?"

"Well, I wouldn't say good friends… He's just a very nice guy. He always gives us his song that he sings at the station for free. He just loves to travel around and talk to his fans. You should go to his debut at Brewster's with us!"

June's heart lifted. "Really?" She felt wonderful to be invited to an outing so quickly after making a friend.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Huey bounced up and down. "That would be great, Hippity-Hop!"

June smiled widely. "Well… when is the debut?"

"Tomorrow, actually. That's what we were just discussing. We need to catch the 6:00 train out of Thornville. It's a pretty short ride to Rosetown, but getting a seat at such an event will be a nightmare, Sweetie."

"But it's going to be a weekly thing, this Brewster's concert!" the active bunny noted.

"True. But for this debut, it's a special occasion, so he's giving out two songs and playing everyone's request!"

"Sounds exciting!" June could hardly wait.

"Sure is! Just meet us at 5:50 at the train station. You'll see Pawpi, Chip, Huey, and me."

"Sounds like a plan!" June waved good-bye to her new friends and went south past Huey's house and west down a ramp right into Vivian's yard.

The long-necked, purple bird was out tending to flowers. "Um… hi!" her shyness had somewhat lifted since her talk with Ginger and Huey.

"Don't trample my grass, Hatchling!" the bird scolded. "What do you think you're doing to my beautiful lawn?"

"Oh… I'm sorry… I…"

"You're new, aren't you? Figures."

"I'm June."

"That's very nice and all and my name's Vivian, but I'm very busy! I can't have my beautiful reputation smashed by some dying flowers, can I? And Ginger had promised me some tulips! Where _is_ that cat?"

"I could get them for you," June suggested. She remembered how Pawpi told her that the other animals may need help. She figured she could earn another gift.

"You could? Really?" Vivian tilted her head. "Fine then. Hurry along."

June didn't waste any time. She ran back up the hill and north to Ginger's house, where she saw her still talking with Huey.

"Back so soon, Sweetie?"

"I'm actually picking up… for Vivian."

"Oh! Goodness! I completely forgot about those seeds I bought her! Oh dear… she's not too angry, is she?" She hurried in her house and came back not a minute later with a shopping bag full of seed packets. "Oh, do please hurry! Thank you so much, Sweetie!"

June hurried back to Vivian's house.

"Wow, you are quite quick, aren't you, Hatchling? Thank you." She took the bag of seeds. "Well, such a chore mustn't go unrewarded, am I right? Perhaps some stationary will do. Yes, that's perfect. Here you are." She handed her some vine paper.

June took it and put it away in her pocket. "Thank you, Vivian."

"Now I know who to turn to when I have something that needs doing." And with that, she continued planting her flowers.

June walked back home. She smiled at her gyroid and went into her house, where she was cozy and comfortable. "What a day… And Nook expects me to come in tomorrow morning… probably at opening time. Better not be late… or I'll owe him even more." She turned off the lamp, causing the room to become pitch black. "I really need a bed." She sat down to lay on the cold, hard floor. Luckily, she was tired enough to fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter 2-

Packages and Postage

June had no trouble waking at dawn. She had been waking up every two hours to shift her position. She sat up with a terrible kink in her neck. She rubbed it with her fingers as she grabbed her uniform. She quickly changed and stepped outside. The chill in the air was colder, an obvious sign of mid-November. She personally hated the cold, brittle feel of fall. She always liked springtime and summer, when she could run outside for hours, following the breeze that was more a blessing than a bully. She looked up at the sky, where clouds were starting to form to bring rain within a day or two. She found cherry trees that she didn't see before. She passed by a house she also hadn't noticed upon her arrival to Thornville, a house she knew immediately was Andy's. She tried to gain a peek in the window, but it was dark inside. She shrugged. Andy was probably asleep. He probably didn't have a stupid job to go to in the morning.

When she came to Nook'n'Go, Nook was setting up the new stock. "Well, well. Bright and early, as told. You are a model employee, June! I may want to hire you full-time! Ha ha har har har!"

June found his laughter disconcerting. She didn't know why, but it just seemed like it was always patronizing.

"Well then, I better get you to work! I need you to send a letter."

"A letter?"

"Yes." Nook went behind the cash register and pulled out some stationary. It wasn't anything fancy, just air mail. "I want you to write a few copies, one for everyone. It's to advertise a sale today. I then want you to deliver all six."

June pictured her hand shriveling up in pain. She wasn't particularly fond of her handwriting, so she never wrote much. Thinking of writing six advertisements made her hand tremble.

"Hop to it!" Nook barked. He then continued to set up the items for sale.

June made her way outside the shop and southeast to her house. She found the crate not flat enough, so she went south across the bridge and continued northeast to the topmost corner of Thornville, where the post office was. She tentatively stepped inside, flinching as she heard the bell at the top of the door ring. She saw a pelican behind the counter, smiling friendlily.

"How can I help you?" she asked, seeing that June wasn't going to approach the desk.

"I… um… have some letters to write and send."

"Oh, of course. My name is Pelly. I'm here from seven to seven every day! Pete is going to be coming by in a little less than two hours to pick up the mail. You may take a seat over there at that desk to write your letters, and I'll be sure to put them with the others."

"Thank you." June sat down and pulled out the stationary. She grabbed a pen from the desk and started writing:

 _Chip,_

 _My name is June. I met you the other day._

 _Nook has asked me to write to you concerning a sale today._

 _Please stop by at your convenience. You may not get another chance!_

 _-June_

She smiled at her work. Her first letter was done. That wasn't too bad. She would use a similar style and such for the rest. She sealed Chip's letter and put it aside, jumping right into the next letter. Pelly watched her silently.

When she was finally done, she sealed the last envelope and grabbed the bundle.

"Working for Tom Nook?" she asked.

"I'm paying off a house."

"I figured as much. He's a hard one. But I'll assure you, he's a decent fellow when you get to know him. Perhaps he cares too much for goods and money, but I believe he's an honest raccoon."

"I hope he doesn't have me working the rest of my life… He's not giving me much for my trouble, and, well… I'm afraid of what he'll give me for this work. Actually, I better go before he docks my pay."

"Ah, yes. Hurry along! I'll see you again!"

June scurried out of the post office and back to Nook's.

"Well, now. That didn't take too long." Nook did not look pleased. "Are you sure you wrote something exciting and enticing on each letter? Especially to Vivian? That bird never comes here. She always wants to go straight to the Able Sisters' store in Rosetown! Nevermind that she can order whatever fashions they have from here!"

"The work is done, Mr. Nook," June was finally able to cut in.

"Well then, I guess that earns you… roughly 150 bells."

June rolled her eyes. _I guess 25 for each letter then…_

"Next… another advertisement to write…"

June winced. She feared that the animals wouldn't even be able to read the letters, her handwriting was so illegible.

"You've seen the town bulletin board, correct?"

"Um…"

"It's outside the post office, as that is the area with the most traffic. It has the town tune, a map, and a bunch of notices and signs posted."

"I think I saw it."

"Good. Write a message up there about my shop. Make it big and bold! And not just about my sale today. Make it for everyday so they never take it down!"

"Uh… okay."

"Go!"

June scurried out and reached the bulletin board out of breath. She grabbed the marker hanging from the side and pulled out a sheet of paper from the folder beneath. Putting a tack in her mouth to hold, she wrote, as clearly and large as she could: **Take a look at Nook's!** She looked at the paper. That wasn't nearly enough. A few spaces underneath, she continued. **Where you'll find it all.** She pinned it in the center of the board and returned the marker. She stepped back to view her work. It wasn't too bad, she decided, and she ran off back to Nook's.

However, before getting there, she almost slammed into someone. "I'm sorry!" she yelped.

He merely grunted, "It's fine," and continued toward the post office, carrying a couple letters. He was human, like her. All she could glimpse was the back of his head, which gave her a look at his flame shirt and hat, which covered his navy blue hair in the shape of horns on his head.

She watched as he entered the post office, then decided she didn't want to be seen staring at him when he came back out, so she continued on her way.

"Is it watercooler worthy?" Nook asked her.

She gave him a blank stare in reply.

"I mean, is it something animals will be talking about?"

"Uh… sure."

"I'll give you 100 for that chore. Very generous, I know. But your next task won't be so easy." Tom gave her a package. "You came back a little later than expected, so I couldn't get you to mail this in time. You're going to have to hand-deliver it."

June took the package, which was ten times heavier than it looked.

"That goes to Huey in acre D-5."

June wanted to shout. She was in acre A-2 right now. She would have to lug this heavy package all the way down to D-5?

"Get going!"

She struggled to walk, but made it outside. She was thankful the doors were automatic. She took a step per second, which was the slowest she had ever walked in her life. She wished she had a cart or a wagon or something. She soon had to put the box down. She sighed and sat beside it, stretching out her arms. It was not even ten o'clock, and she feared she'd be exhausted after this job.

"Nook has you doing chores for him again?" Pawpi's cheery bark was a relief to her.

"Pawpi!"

"I heard you're coming with us to the concert in Rosetown tonight!" He grabbed one side of the box while June began to lift it.

"Yeah. Ginger invited me."

"Arf! It'll be a blast! Wait till you hear K. K.! He's amazing!"

They were easily making their way across the bridge and toward Huey's house.

"I think Gabe's going to be there. He's probably going to end up in the front! Then again, he never misses a cup of coffee from the Roost, so he may sit at the bar."

"Who?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. How silly of me to bring up someone you don't even know." Pawpi shook his head. "Gabe is a boy that lives in Rosetown. He always visited Andy a lot, and Andy visited him. They're really good friends. I occasionally get a letter from him when he doesn't visit Thornville, but when he does, he takes the time to come see me personally, and all the other animals."

"Wow, it must be great visiting other towns like that!"

"Well, it's also quite simple. The train runs every fifteen minutes, and between Rosetown and Thornville there's no fee."

"Why's that?"

"The towns are closely connected, physically as well as figuratively. Tortimer is the mayor of both towns; the shops order from each other; Pelly, Pete, and Phyllis work at the post offices… even the museum coordinators are siblings! Blathers and Celeste are quite the pair, though. Celeste is so sweet and into all the beautiful things… stars and paintings. Blathers, he loves the wildlife, the living, and once-living… You get a chance to check out the museum yet?"

"No."

"Arf! You got to! Actually, the museum in Rosetown is where the Roost is. It's down in the basement of the art gallery, then upstairs is the astronomy observatory. Celeste is usually up there stargazing. If we have time after the show, we can take a look around the museum. If I remember correctly, Gabe has pretty much donated every painting needed to fill the place. Arf! What a collection!"

"I can't wait to see it!"

They had been talking even outside Huey's door, so June finally knocked. They waited until the bunny finally opened up. "Hey, Hippity-Hops! Top of the morning to you! I was just enjoying my breakfast."

"This package is from Nook," June told him.

"Ah, yes! I've been expecting this!" He took it and set it on the table, with effort. He opened it quickly and jumped up and down. "Yes! It's perfect!" It was a TV. That explained the weight for such a small thing. He turned it on. It had a bright display, a perfect purchase. "Thanks so much, June!" He turned to her. "I know Nook's paying you, but I'm going to give you something anyway. Here." He handed her a CD player. "You'll need it to play K. K.'s music when you get it!"

"Thanks, Huey."

"See you tonight, Hippity-Hop!"

She and Pawpi left the house. She turned to her friend. "Here… take this."

Pawpi shook his head, "Huey gave it to you!"

"Nook's paying me. And you were so nice to just help out like that. I want to thank you."

"I can't take that."

"Please!"

Pawpi smiled. "Well, you're just as generous as the animals, aren't you? You're a good neighbor, June." He finally took the CD player. "What about K. K.'s songs?"

"I have a tape deck back home."

"Arf! A tape deck?" Pawpi sighed. "Whatever works, I suppose."

"I'll see you later, Pawpi! Thanks again!"

June hurried back to Nook's.

Nook was on the phone, "I told you that I wanted the classic wall canceled! What am I supposed to do with this?" A pause, then his face turned red, with both anger and anxiety. "No! I don't want you to put her on the phone!" Another pause. "I'm shipping it back to you, and I expect a full refund!" He slammed the phone down.

June jumped. She could barely catch her breath. Nook always seemed a bit… stiff… bossy… arrogant… but she never pictured him angry. Until now.

"Oh, June! Thank goodness! Take this package to the post office. Those sisters in Rosetown didn't get the memo that I didn't want it anymore. I swear they do this just to frustrate me!" He pushed the package into her hands, and she didn't wait but a second to hurry and do as he asked.

Pelly smiled warmly when she entered the post office.

"Not much time to chat this time, Pelly." June gave her the package. "Any chance of returning this from where it came?"

"I'll see what Pete can do," the polite pelican replied. She seemed to know just what happened, as if it had happened before, or something like it, but June didn't have time to ask.

"Thanks, Pelly!" June was already out the door.

When she returned, Nook was writing some things down in his marketing books. "Well, the delivery was worth about 150… and that little errand about 50."

June sighed quietly. Her debt would never be paid at this rate.

Nook looked up at her. She bit her lip. He didn't hear that sigh, did he? He scrunched up his face. "I don't have anything for you to do… Why don't you take a break? Help out the neighbors. They'll give you stuff."

"Can I shop?"

Nook hesitated. "As much as I hate to lose a customer, I also hate to lose money that could be going toward your loan."

"Yes, sir." June sadly left the store and headed to Pawpi's house.

She knocked on his door, but there wasn't an answer. She went down the hill to the police station.

"Anything going on, officer?"

"I've heard of K. K. Slider being in Rosetown tonight!" the Officer Copper spoke cheerily.

"Yeah, I'm going to see him."

"Ah! Good for you!"

"What do you guys have in there?" June pointed in the building.

"Ah, that is our lost and found."

"Lost and found?" June entered the building. "I'm going to see if I can find the owners of these." She took the icy shirt and the froggy chair. She carried them outside the building.

"Thank you for stopping by!" the officer outside straightened and saluted.

She went first to Chip's house, which was closest. She didn't need to knock on the door because he was outside, watching a fish at the shoreline.

"Chip?" she set the chair down.

"Hm? Whoa! Where did you find that stuff?"

"The lost and found. Are either of these yours?"

"I'll give you a little hint, Chi. They never belong to anyone! I seriously think someone puts them in the dump but the person who collects the garbage thinks them too valuable. Either that, or they must wash up on the shore here. The point is, Chi, it's hopeless finding their original owner. Usually, Andy comes by and takes whatever's there. He sells the stuff to Nook for a good bell. You should do the same, Chi."

"This shirt looks cute for when winter comes…" June noted. "But I'll give the chair to Andy so he can sell it." She headed north. "Besides… Nook won't let me do anything while I'm working for him."

She went to her house first, to put her shirt away. When she came to Andy's door she hesitated. He didn't seem that friendly when he saw her this morning. Maybe he wasn't an early person. Still, she hated putting herself out there, being outgoing.

She groaned. "Come on!" she told herself. She brought her hand up to knock on the door.

After a moment, it opened.

"Um… hi… Andy, right?"

His blue eyes scanned her carefully. His eyelids drooped a bit, but she could see, and feel, the intensity in his gaze. "Yeah," he said bluntly.

"I, um… kinda ran into you before. I'm June. I moved here last night…"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, anyway… I got this from the police station and, well, since I can't do anything at Nook's since I'm an employee, I thought you might want to take it to sell it and all… Chip told me you usually sell the police station stuff."

"Yeah, when I don't need it."

"Well, here." She tried to smile, but his frown stopped her. "Sorry if I bothered you."

She turned without waiting for him to close the door. She knew he was still watching her, because she never heard the door close before she got back home. Maybe she was paranoid. Maybe it just took him a longer time to get the froggy chair into his house. Maybe, but she didn't think so.

She looked at her new outfit for awhile, then left to Ginger's house. "Need anything?"

"Hm… Actually, yeah! I got just the job for you!" the cat replied to her question. "When Huey was over here the other day, he forgot his notebook. Apparently he is trying to think of song ideas for K. K. Imagine Huey as a songwriter!" She chuckled. "Well, anyway, can you take it to him for me?"

"Sure thing." June took the notebook a couple acres south to Huey, who accepted it thankfully.

He gave her a packet of stationary. "This is so you can write me, Hippity-Hop! And the other neighbors around here. Oh! And at Rosetown!"

"Sounds great. Thank you, Huey." She pocketed the paper. "Do you need any favors while I'm here?"

"Actually, yeah. Could you get my book back from Pawpi? He's had it for awhile now. I think he's forgotten about it."

"Yeah, I'll do that."

So June scurried off to Pawpi's pad again, but he still wasn't there. She figured she'd wait until later to get the book. Meanwhile, she went down to Vivian's house.

"Hatchling? Why are you so energetic so early this morning?" she questioned.

June ended up delivering a shirt to Ginger, who was reluctant to take it, saying Vivian was always insulting her style. However, she looked good in the diamond shirt, so she couldn't complain too much. She gave June her purple tie-dye shirt that she decided would look better on her.

Chip wanted to return a book to Eggbert, who rewarded June with a ranch chair. It was a very generous reward, she thought, until she saw that it was a bit worn. It apparently belonged to his sister years ago. She dragged it back home.

In her wanderings, she happened across Pawpi at the Wishing Well. She asked for Huey's book, and he gave it to her right there, saying that she had perfect timing, for he had just finished reading it. "I like to read here by the well. It's so peaceful… the sound of the running water…" he told her.

It was then that she decided she should go back to Nook. When she did, she saw, to her dismay, more packages.

"Ah, I thought you'd never come back!" Nook stated. "I need you to bring those packages to the post office. Hurry along now! I've got more work for you!"

June balanced, at the most, three at a time. She ended up taking three trips. One with three smaller packages, another with two medium sized packages, and a third with a medium package and two smaller ones, which was the hardest.

"That earned you about 250… now for the next job…"

June could hardly move by the end of her work day. And by now she had memorized the path to the post office. She had never seen so many packages in her life. She wondered how Pete flew around with all that baggage. Perhaps he could give her some pointers. For now, she couldn't wait until 6:00, when the train would come to take her and her friends to Rosetown.


	3. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3-

A Night Out

"16,000?!" Ginger was shocked. " _He_ should owe _you_ 16,000!" June had arrived early, as she always does, and met Ginger at the station at 5:45. "I swear, sometimes that Tom Nook can be so cheap!"

June smiled at her friend's freak-out. She honestly felt the same way. After today's work, she felt like she knocked her mortgage down at least by five thousand something. But she gained closer to one thousand, and only knocked it down not even to 16,000 bells. She dreaded returning to work tomorrow. "I am so sore…" she half-laughed, half-groaned.

"It's a good thing you're going to the Roost," Ginger decided. "You deserve a coffee break!"

"I just want to take my mind off things tonight."

"Nook working you hard?" Pawpi had met up with them. It was now 5:50. June was counting the minutes.

"He's working her to blood, sweat, and tears, and giving her the minimal pay!" Ginger told him.

"That's Nook for you." Pawpi laughed. "Hey, at least he's letting you sleep in the house. He could have just let you to fend for yourself."

"And I'm thankful to him. Truly I am. But I could earn more bells shaking trees!"

"Ha ha ha! Yeah! You probably could!"

The three of them laughed awhile then looked up at the clock. 5:55.

"Where are Huey and Chip?"

"Chip's always late. And Huey almost makes it a game to show up right on time," Pawpi explained.

"Chip better make the train."

"That's why we made the meeting time 5:50. He'll be here before 6:00."

As if on cue, Chip came up the brick steps.

"Hey, Chip!" June smiled. "There you are."

"Oh don't start! I made it on time, didn't I?" Chip snapped.

"Chill out, Chip," Pawpi stepped in when he saw June was taken aback. "She didn't mean anything by it."

"Sorry, Chip…" June felt even more timid than she did when they first met.

"Don't mind him, Sweetie," Ginger reassured him. "He's always been quick-tempered."

"Yeah… It's my only fault," Chip flashed a grin. Just like that, the tension subsided.

The four of them could hear the train coming now. June looked nervously at the archway. To her relief, she saw Huey scampering up the stairs. It was right on time, just as Ginger promised, for the train had just stopped and Porter hopped out.

"Oh, Eek EEK! You all headed to Rosetown, eek?" the monkey chattered.

"Arf! Yep! All five of us!" Pawpi said.

"Well, then, all aboard! Eek!"

The five of them filed onto the train. Huey sat across from Ginger and June and Pawpi sat across from Chip on the other side. They were all wearing their K. K. t-shirts. Even June had gotten one from Pawpi, who had an extra meant for Andy on the off-chance he would come.

June felt odd to be on the train again so soon. She almost felt nervous. A new town, new animals. She smiled as she listened to Huey yammer on. She was with friends now, friends who would help her make acquaintances with the animals at Rosetown.

"Hey! If it ain't June!" that voice June recognized as Rover. He came by to say hello. "You moving again?"

"No! No! No!" June almost laughed. "I'm taking a trip to Rosetown to see K. K. Slider!"

"Ah, of course! Totakeke's the best!"

"Totakeke?!" the five of them responded.

Rover blushed. "Aw gee… There I go opening my big mouth again."

"His real name's Totakeke?" Pawpi seemed excited for this new bit of information.

"I thought he wanted to just be like a normal pup, Chi," Chip whispered. "What's with making a stage name?"

"What kind of name is Totakeke for a singer, though, Sweetie?" Ginger started.

"Yeah, I guess it's for the best!" Huey added.

"But if his fans don't know his real name," June began, "how can he claim to want to make friends with them?"

"He gives away free music and takes requests twice a week at a free performance!" Pawpi argued.

"Still… friendship is personal, not monetary. It's like he's buying his fans."

"Nah! Nothing like that!" Rover cut in. "He just loves his music! He feels more like himself when he plays, and he loves bringing the joy of music to others. K. K. Slider is the name he gave himself to do that. Totakeke, K. K. It sounds the same… it just has more… oh, what was the word he used?"

"Cadence?" June asked.

"Yes! That's it! K. K. Slider sounds better… has better rhythm, better cadence."

"Wow, you knew just what he said, Sweetie!" Ginger was impressed.

"I think I can see what he means. I can't wait to meet him though."

"Me too! Me too!" Huey had pulled out that notebook. "Check this out!" He flipped it open. "K. K. Melody!"

"Kind of a blunt title, isn't it?" Ginger smirked.

"No worse than K. K. Aria!" Huey retorted. He turned the page. "Ballroom K. K.!"

"That's actually something I'd listen to," June said. "I love those classic ballroom tunes!"

Pawpi shook his head. "He already has a Waltz and a Tango… not to mention Swing and Salsa!"

"You guys are no fun!" Huey put the notebook away again.

"Pulling into Rosetown's train station! Eek, EEK!" Porter was calling.

"Well, here we are!" Ginger said, and they came outside after Porter.

"Have a great time in Rosetown! EEK!" The monkey stood outside for awhile as they went down the stairs.

June went over to the Rosetown station map. "Hm… Looks like the museum is right down the hill, in acre D-5."

"Then let's go! It's already 6:10!" Huey started running south.

They all followed with equal speed. When they made it to the museum, they went down the steps to see the Roost packed full of animals.

At the bar sat a green alligator. Beside him was a boy, sipping on a cup of coffee. June decided that must have been Gabe. He had straight brown hair and round brown eyes and was wearing a K. K. shirt. At the tables along the wall to her left, a white poodle and a yellow duck sat together, giggling and talking, and a blue bird sat at the next table, apparently annoying the grey wolf sitting across from him. Pawpi sat down next to Gabe at the bar and gestured to June. "Hey June! This is Gabe."

"Hey, June!" the boy put down his cup and extended a hand. "A pleasure to meet you. A pleasure to meet any other human in these towns!" He chuckled.

"You too…" June shook his hand shyly.

"So you're new to Thornville?"

"Just moved in last night."

"Wow! You're settling in pretty quickly!"

"Well, the animals are very nice," June looked at Pawpi as she spoke. She noticed that Ginger sat over with the poodle and duck, Chip sat on the other side of the alligator, and Huey jumped right into a conversation with the blue bird.

"Arf! She flatters us," Pawpi smiled back. "We're bullies!"

Gabe grinned. "Oh yeah, very territorial."

"Can I get you folks anything?" Brewster startled June with his deep voice behind her ear.

"I think I'll have a chai tea, Brewster," Pawpi said.

June looked behind the counter at the choices listed on the menu overhead, "Um… I'll… take…"

"She'll have the special brew, Brewster," Gabe leaned over the counter. "On me."

He started preparing the beverages.

"You didn't have to do that…" June argued timidly.

"You're a guest here," Gabe shrugged.

"I'm a guest here," Pawpi nudged him.

"You're always here."

"Arf! I'll remember that excuse when you ask me as my guest to go to Nook's for you."

"I can't help it if that riley raccoon doesn't like my guts."

June perked up at the insult to Tom Nook. "Dare I ask?" she wondered aloud.

Pawpi shook his head. "More drama than I care to explain."

Gabe spoke up, "Then I will. Tom Nook is a conceited, arrogant, pompous—"

"Relax, Gabe. It's not like you to rant about someone like this."

"Yeah, I know. It just frustrates me the way he treats them! All Mabel wants is for them to talk again, but Tom won't hear of it, and Sable just sits in the back pretending she doesn't care. I can see she does though, Pawpi. I can see it in her eyes."

"Ever since Sable's actually been talking to you, you've changed. I don't know whether it's for the worse, but the Gabe I know wouldn't speak like that about anyone. Even Tom Nook."

"Well… Tom Nook doesn't like me any better. 'The friend of those rodents!' he calls me. He does realize he's a rodent too, right?"

June took what she could from this. She didn't know the full story, and frankly, she wasn't sure if she wanted to. This drama happening between Rosetown and Thornville… she didn't think she would ever want to be a part of it.

She silently sipped on her coffee that was given to her in the middle of their conversation. It was delicious. It was sweet, but she knew the sweetness was not sugar. "What's in this?" she asked Brewster.

"Pigeon milk. A fine ingredient. It is my specialty."

"I like it. It's very sweet."

"Well, thank you, miss. I appreciate your appreciation."

June smiled. "So… how did you get to working beneath the museum like this?"

Brewster seemed as shy as she was.

"I'm sorry… I don't mean to cross the line… I just figured you don't talk much to customers."

"I have always been… reserved. Too quiet for my own good."

"That's what my mom always said about me."

"It is good to talk with customers. It will encourage their return."

"If the delicious coffee isn't enough," June pointed out.

"But to answer your question, Blathers and Celeste are childhood friends of mine. When I started up my business, Celeste was happy to accommodate me. After all, she had one floor that was not prepared to be filled with the wonders of a museum."

"I still have to check out the museum back home. I hear there are fish and bugs and fossils."

"Ah, yes. Blathers has quite the collection. Andy is quite the angler, if I recall. And nothing has stopped him from catching the hardest of bugs, even the dangerous bee." The bird smiled ever so slightly. "I remember when he came in here with bee stings all across his face. He looked terrible."

"Oh no! That sounds awful!"

"But at the same time, you could never find a more wonderful sight. He had come to reward himself for his accomplishment of finally catching that bee."

"I remember seeing him like that!" Pawpi had listened in on their conversation, cuing Brewster to back a little away from the counter and begin washing the cup that Gabe had. "Arf! He looked like a monster! Scared Ginger half to death!"

Gabe burst out laughing. "Andy is one of the funniest people I know and he doesn't even try!"

June smiled at his laughter. She tried to picture Andy covered in beestings, telling Brewster of his celebrations. She couldn't picture that joyful pride in those intense blue eyes that leered at her earlier that day.

The alligator beside Gabe also finished his drink. He had been staring at the clock the entire time he was talking to Chip. "Man! I tell you, that clock has got to be slow, Crocodile."

Gabe looked over his shoulder at it. "Nope. But you're the one who always tells me time flies when you're having fun! Stop staring at the thing!" He turned back to June, who had instinctively glanced at the clock. It read 6:45. Fifteen minutes until K. K. arrived. "That impatient alligator is Sidney. He's usually a lot of fun, so it's hard to believe time is moving so slowly for him right now." He turned back to Sidney. "Why don't you say hello to June. She's new to Thornville."

"Hey, Crocodile. What's going down?"

"Uh… hi."

"I won't bite ya, don't you worry!"

June smiled shyly.

"So, you're living in Thornville? I almost lived there, but I decided to live in Rosetown instead."

"Because it was closer," Gabe cut in.

"That is _so_ not true!"

"Oh, please. You wanted to get off that train and get settled. You can't sit still for 10 minutes, let alone how long that train ride was for you!"

"True," Sidney relented. "But still. Both towns sure are nice!"

"You've been to Thornville?" June asked.

"Just to shop at Nook's."

"Ah yes, and his business just keeps growing," Gabe sighed.

"Funny he can't pay a decent wage, then," June mumbled. Gabe heard her, though.

"Wage? Don't tell me you're working for that scoundrel!"

"I have to pay off a house he sold me. Truth is, I really wasn't that ready to move."

"Oh. Well that was decent of him to let you stay in the house. Normally if you can't pay for something, you can't get it. He's all about the bells."

"Trust me, I think I'm working it off tenfold!"

"I believe you."

Just then, all heads turned and all conversations ceased. K. K. Slider was there. June watched as he walked right by her, as she was on the far edge of the bar. He went to the stage and sat on the stool that had been waiting for him. He put his guitar on his lap and strummed a chord. Then, just as suddenly as it grew quiet, bursts of voices rang out. "Play K. K. Aria!" "Play K. K. Song!" "Play K. K. Rock!" "Play K. K. Waltz!"

K. K. held up his hand and the noise died down. "I will take your requests…" his voice was smooth, almost musical just in speech. "I promise I will play a song request from all of you today." He strummed again on his guitar. "If you would like to make a request, you may speak out when I ask." He looked right at June. "You, miss. I don't recognize you. You're new."

He had stopped talking and still looked at her, so she replied, "Uh… yeah."

"You may make the first pick. What style do you like?"

"Um… style? I guess… Country…"

K. K. smiled. "Ah, one of my favorites." A strum. "After all…" another strum "what is this acoustic country guitar without a country tune?"

He plucked some notes, obviously the intro to the song. He began to sing. June loved it right away. She nodded her head to the music and smiled. She could see Pawpi beside her swaying back and forth. She saw Gabe's feet kicking back and forth. The animals along the left side tapped their feet or tapped along on the café tables.

June closed her eyes when he began to whistle. It was as if she could see the green country side, hear the whistle of the wind in K. K.'s melody. She smiled. It was definitely a happy tune.

When the song came to a close, the audience applauded. "I hope you enjoyed that, miss."

"I did. Thank you!" June felt more comfortable now. He was reaching out, just like they were discussing on the train. He wanted to get to know his fans.

"I'll get you an aircheck of that piece for you to play back home. Hm… Brewster! I should have asked you for your pick! After all, you have the courtesy to host me here tonight and every week after!"

The pigeon turned, startled. He had been washing the cups some more as K. K. sang. "I personally like Café K. K."

"Naturally," the dog nodded. "Café K. K. it is then."

June watched K. K. carefully as he sang this next song. He really seemed to enjoy bringing smiles to his audience's faces. He even looked around a bit and seemed to smile as he sang when he saw them dancing or tapping along. He gave her a wink and she blushed. Brewster was actually facing toward K. K. this time, leaning over the bar to listen.

When the song ended, he took many more requests. He did end up playing K. K. Aria, K. K. Rock, and K. K. Waltz. He also played what Gabe called his favorite, Go K. K. Rider! He promised the airchecks to everyone who requested a song. He ended up playing 14 songs, ending with a song of his own choosing, a song that little have heard of called Two Days Ago. He promised everyone an aircheck for that. So, everyone did end up with the two songs from K. K. Slider. After he had given everyone his music, his fans approached him in bunches. June was dying to talk with him since he asked for her request.

Gabe got off his seat, "As much as I would love to stay and chat with K. K., I've got some stuff to do. But June, it was nice meeting you. Come by sometime again, alright?"

"Will do, Gabe. Thanks."

"See you later Pawpi, Sidney."

"See you, Crocodile!" Sidney said cheerily.

"Arf! Ciao, Gabe!" Pawpi waved as he went out the door. He turned to June. "You wanna talk to K. K.?"

"Yeah… if you don't mind waiting…"

"Not a problem! But while he's with his other fans, I promised to show you the museum!"

"Oh, that's right!"

The two of them went upstairs, where they saw Celeste polishing a plaque underneath one of the paintings. "This is the place where they display the art."

"Wow!" June peered closely at each one. "These paintings are gorgeous!"

"Gabe donated most of these, I hear." Pawpi was behind her, looking over her shoulder. "And I think that Andy donated one or two."

"Andy used to visit a lot, didn't he?"

"Nearly everyday."

"What changed?"

"Honestly… I'm not sure."

"But I thought you said he and Gabe were good friends?"

"Oh they are…" Pawpi was quiet. "I guess it's pretty complicated."

"There is so much going on between Thornville and Rosetown…" June and Pawpi had begun to climb the stairs to the observatory. "First that thing between Nook and… well whoever it was here… Now between Andy and Gabe… I think I've stepped into a lot more than I bargained for…"

"Arf! No need to involve yourself in those problems, June."

"I know… but I hate to see such… tension." Pawpi directed her to the telescope and she peered through the lens. She never knew stars could be so beautiful! "Wow! What a view!"

"It takes you away from the tension. I'll have to show you around Blathers's museum when we get back home."

June stifled a yawn. "Maybe not tonight." She glanced at the observatory clock. It was already after 9:00pm.

Pawpi chuckled and the two of them went back down into the Roost. K. K. was talking with Brewster, who was not too shy with him. "Thanks again, Brew. I love what you did with the place!"

"My pleasure to accommodate you, Totakeke." June raised her eyebrows. Brewster and K. K. must have been close friends already. "Here, take a free cup to go."

"Oh, I couldn't possibly!" K. K. tried to refuse the pigeon milk coffee, but Brewster was insistent. "Fine. But I'll pay in the future weeks!" He took a sip and started toward the stairs.

June began to back up and stepped on Pawpi's foot. "Arf! Ouch! June, what are you doing?"

June whispered timidly, "He's ready to leave… I won't bother him."

K. K. Slider smiled as he approached her, "It's not a bother, I assure you, miss. June, was it?"

"Uh… yeah." June felt her face get warm. "Um… good show tonight… I look forward to hearing some more of your songs."

"Thornville station at 9:00 on Saturdays. Here at the Roost on Wednesdays."

"Outside the station, even in winter?"

"Give the animals what they want," the dog shrugged.

"It must be hard… always dealing with fans… always trying to please people…"

"You've got a good head on you June… real in tune with others." K. K. winked. "But it has the greatest rewards. You saw their happiness… their excitement today. You can't wish for a better sight."

June smiled. "You're right. It was amazing! I wish I could spread such joy like that!"

"Everyone has their own joy seeds to plant, June. I can tell you that you've probably already sown a few."

"You think?"

"I see how you are. You have so much to give, June."

June enjoyed hearing him talk. He had such a way with words, almost as though he were creating lyrics to life itself. And the way he talked, the melodical flow of his voice, he may as well have been singing.

"It was nice talking to you, my friend. I will see you again at my next performance, I hope."

"I can't wait!"

With that, their chat was over and K. K. left the museum.

"Well, you two certainly clicked well," Pawpi noted.

"Yeah… I guess so," June looked down.

"You do have a lot to offer, June. I mean, you make friends so quickly, even with your shyness. You just have that great personality for it."

"Thanks, Pawpi." She turned to Brewster. "I'll see you next time I come to Rosetown."

Brewster was, as always, wiping a mug, "It was nice meeting you, June. Have a good night."

"Thank you, Brewster."

When they left, Pawpi looked over at her. "My point exactly," he said.

"What?"

"Brewster's as shy as you are, yet you guys hit it off. It's like you're a magnetic personality, June. It's great!"

"Well then my magnet doesn't work on Andy. I could tell he was just annoyed at me both times I saw him."

"Well, that's just Andy. He's always been a bit of an antisocial." Pawpi smiled, "Completely opposite of you!"

June and Pawpi arrived at the station, where Ginger, Chip, and Huey were waiting. "We thought you'd never get here, Chi!" Chip teased.

"Wow, you guys waited out in the cold for us?" June asked. "You didn't have to do that."

"We didn't want to just leave you, Sweetie. We came together, so we leave together."

"When's the next train?" Pawpi asked.

"About five minutes, Hippity Hop!" Huey jumped in. "It's 9:40."

"Already?!" June gasped. "Wow… it's so late."

"Not a night person?" Pawpi asked.

"I've always been more of a morning person."

When the train arrived, they were greeted by Porter again. "Eek! EEK!" he screeched. "Back to Thornville?"

The five filed in and took their seats. Pawpi sat across from June and Ginger and Huey sat across from Chip. June gazed out the window sleepily for the most part. For the first time since K. K. started singing, she dreaded the morning's job at Nook's. She leaned against the window and yawned. She realized she had not yet gained a bed for her house. Another uncomfortable night awaited her. But for now, she was content. She had a great time, and she couldn't wait to meet the others in Rosetown someday.

When the train pulled into the station and Porter wished them goodnight, they went their separate ways, bidding each other happy dreams and a good rest. June approached her house, but before she could grab the doorknob, her gyroid bounced, "JuNe! WeLcOmE bAcK!"

"Uh… thanks…"

"I hAvE aN iTeM sToReD fOr YoU!"

"I didn't store an item."

"SoMeOnE cAmE bY wItH a HaMmOcK fOr YoU."

June tilted her head as the gyroid brought it up from under the stone in front of him.

"He NoTiCeD tHaT yOu DiDn'T hAvE a BeD, sO hE dRoPpEd It OfF."

"Who?"

"AnDy."

" _Andy_?" She looked over her shoulder toward where Andy's house was. She couldn't see anything in the dark, so she just grabbed the hammock and went inside with it.

After she set it up, she was more than thankful to fall back onto it. She fell asleep quickly, now that she had a proper bed.


	4. Chapter 4

-Chapter 4-

Stories

Nook'n'Go was stocked full for the day when June walked in the next morning. The clouds overhead were dark and looming that day, threatening rain soon. She was glad to be inside before it poured.

Nook turned cheerily, "Welcome! Feel fr—Oh, it's just you."

June frowned. That was a nice greeting.

"I need you to post something on the bulletin board again."

"What do you need posted?"

"I need you to advertise our Black Friday sale. We have triples of all our items in stock and we have clothes, wallpaper, and carpet available for way cheaper than the Able Sisters'. So I'm going to need you to post at our bulletin board and Rosetown's. Report back here immediately upon completing the job. No dilly-dallying in Rosetown. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

June hurried to the post office and began to write the advertisement. **Nook'n'Go Black Friday Sale!** She made sure to make it big and bold. **More Stock, More Items, Great Sales!** She thought of what else Nook said. **Clothes, Wallpaper, and Carpet available in-store!** She smiled and added. **Come on by! Friday, November 26** **th** **.**

She pinned it up on the board and decided to write Rosetown's sign here, while she could see the other to copy. She wrote the message, rolled it up, and headed off to the station.

"Going to Rosetown again? Eek?" Porter asked her. She had come right on time for the 8:15 train.

"Yeah… this time it's work-related," June told him.

"Eek! EEK! For me, it's always work-related… I never get a chance to visit…"

"You don't get a day off at all?"

"Eek! Nope! Can't afford it! The train runs twenty-four/seven! EEK!"

"That's a shame…"

"It's how it's gotta be. Eek." He let June on the train, and she took a seat.

Rover was across the aisle from her. He smiled and waved, "Hey there, June! Back to Rosetown already?"

"I'm doing a job for Nook. Thanks to you, I owe him a bunch!"

"Ha ha ha har har har!" Rover had a laugh like Nook's. "But also thanks to me you got a shelter in preparation for the rain that'll be coming soon."

"Yes… I suppose so…" She looked at him curiously. "So what do I owe _you_?"

"Ha ha ha! Nothing, June! Don't you worry! You'll just owe me one if I need a favor later, kay?"

June smiled as the train came to a stop. She hurried on her way to the bulletin board, posted the ad, and ran back to the station, not letting the train leave in the meantime.

When she got back to Thornville, she went back to Nook's.

Nook seemed shocked that she was back so soon. He told her, "Since that job took you out of your way to Rosetown, I'll give you a good pay… plus you made it with one train, so I'll give you a bonus!"

June perked up.

"How's 500 bells sound?"

June nodded. This was more like it… kinda.

Nook sent her out again on a couple deliveries, which paid little but were hard on her. She longed for Rosetown. She wanted to pick some apples from the trees, maybe bring some home to plant in Thornville. She looked up at her own cherry trees as she delivered to Vivian, who took the furniture and gave her an old shirt of hers in return. "This will look amazing on you, Hatchling," she told her. "Take it!"

It was called a Big Dot Shirt, and June could see why. A huge white dot sat at the center of the orange shirt. "Thanks, Vivian," she said and put the shirt on top of the other packages. "I'll wear it today after work."

She continued then to Chip's house for the next delivery. She gave him a few packages, as he was redoing his house. Luckily, she had a dolly this time. "Here, Chi," he said, handing her an exotic wardrobe, "this would look great in your pad, I'm sure."

"Thanks, Chip! I'll store my clothes and stuff in here. Thanks!"

She put it on the dolly and wheeled it and the shirt back to her house. After dropping them off, she left and headed to Nook's again, just as a roll of thunder sounded in the sky. "Well that took you long enough!" Nook was impatiently tapping his foot as she entered his store.

June sighed. How much was he going to dock her this time?

Tom Nook was quiet. June turned around to what he was looking at. It had begun to rain outside, which brought a beautiful sight. The sun was still bright, poking through the thick clouds and making each raindrop sparkle as it fell to the ground. "Wow…" she gasped. "That's so pretty…" She turned back to her boss. "Mr. Nook?"

But his mind was not there. His mind was in the past.

"Mr. Nook?"

"Huh? Oh… yes… your pay… That earned you 300 bells." He must have forgotten to dock her, but June wasn't going to complain. "Your next job is…" He continued to stare out the window. "…not ready yet… Come back later." With that, he left to the back of the store.

June was confused. She started to leave, then she remembered what Pawpi told her last night. She turned back around and approached Nook cautiously. "Mr. Nook…? Is everything alright?"

"Just fine, June. Go help the villagers." He was very curt in his reply, but she stayed. "Get out!"

"Mr. Nook… I know you don't like me very much and I'm just an employee… but I'm probably the only person you can talk to as someone besides a customer… please… if you want to—"

"You're relentless!" Tom Nook was faltering, though, and he sighed. "Why did you move here, June?" he asked quietly.

"Huh? I don't know… to be on my own, I guess."

"Me too… To follow a dream, June. To make animals know who I am… To have some attention, honestly." He leaned over toward June. "I grew up in a small town, June! You can't blame me for wanting some excitement!"

"Not at all!" June agreed.

"But Sable…" Tom looked out the window again. "If you see a rainbow out there, please let me know."

"A rainbow, sir?"

"Yeah."

June nodded and stood in the doorway, looking around at the sky. "No rainbow, Mr. Nook."

"None?"

"Nope."

She heard Nook groan. "Take a break, June. I've worked you hard enough already. And this talk… 50 bells."

"Aw, Mr. Nook, I don't need—"

But Nook wouldn't hear of it. "And this…" he gave her the retro umbrella that was in stock. "Take it so you don't get that uniform wet." He was sullen, but he still teased. After all, June knew that it wasn't the uniform that concerned him. She smiled and left the store. She understood that he needed to be alone for awhile.

June knew very little about the Able Sisters. She knew they were porcupines. She knew they were tailors. She knew nothing else. She was learning their story with Nook, however. Apparently, they grew up together. Of this, she was certain. Tom Nook had a past with Sable, one of the sisters. She remembered Gabe going off about how he treated her, so something must have happened, something bad, to burn that bridge. She sat in her house and watched the sunny rain. She wondered what it was about this bright rain that made Nook reminiscent. She shrugged. She didn't need to know the whole story right now.

She left her house and walked over to Andy's house. She knocked on the door. There was no answer. "Must be out…" she turned around. "I really want to thank him in person for the hammock." She sighed.

"I cOuLd TeLl HiM yOu StOpPeD bY," the gyroid at the house made her jump.

"Oh… um… Where is he now?"

"RoSeToWn."

"Really? He's visiting Rosetown again? That's great! I'll catch him later, but be sure to tell him I stopped by and want to see him."

"SuRe ThInG."

She left again and headed toward Pawpi's pad. She was greeted cheerily and hurriedly brought in out of the rain. "Arf! What's happening, June?"

"Tom Nook gave me some time off," she told him.

"What?! Arf! No way!"

"Well, actually…" She proceeded to explain what had happened at Nook'n'Go. Pawpi listened with full attention and almost perked ears. "So… something about the sunny rain…"

"He's opening up to you, June! Arf! This is great!"

"What?"

"June… Sable opened up to Gabe, and Tom's opening up to you. You guys can finally unfold the mysteries of the full story!"

"I just wish I could restore their friendship…" June admitted. "Based on what I could gather, they must have grown up together then grown apart when Mr. Nook moved away."

"I think it's more complicated than that, June."

"Yeah… I'm afraid you're right." She shifted uncomfortably on the red chair she was sitting on. "Oh!" she perked up. "Guess where Andy is!"

"Where?"

"Rosetown."

"Arf! What? No way!"

"I know. I was shocked. I wonder what made him go." June looked at Pawpi curiously. "What is the story about him anyway?"

"He and Gabe are real close. Gabe will be able to tell you more than I could."

"So he is still close with Gabe? I thought that was the reason he never visited… because of some sort of falling out."

"Nah, nothing like that."

"So what was it?"

"I told you yesterday that I didn't know."

"Oh… that's right. Sorry."

"Arf! It's fine!"

"So many characters… so many stories… I can't keep up with it all."

"All a part of living in a neighborhood."

"Well… I don't know how long Mr. Nook's mood will be like this… so I better go back so it doesn't turn to fury."

"Arf! Ha! Ha! I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Thanks for letting me in awhile. Your house is lovely."

"Well, thanks, June. Sometimes I feel I don't try hard enough with this whole interior design thing."

"Well… I suppose any house is better than mine." June winked.

"Arf! That it is!" Pawpi chuckled.

He saw her to the door and she opened her umbrella to the downpour. She hurried across the wet grass and leaves to Nook's store. When she entered the store, the tanuki was talking to Chip.

"That's it, Chi!" he was purchasing some stationary. "Thanks!" He started to leave and saw June standing near the door. "Still working here?"

"Probably for the rest of my life," she spoke in a low voice.

Chip laughed and hurried out, opening his own umbrella, the paper parasol style.

"Welcome back, June," Nook definitely seemed cheerier. "I'll have you do some inside jobs today, to keep you out of the rain."

"Well, thank you, Mr. Nook…" June said shyly.

"I need you to watch the store while I'm gone. Do not buy anything from villagers with my money. That's only for me."

"Where are you going, sir?"

"I have some errands to run at the post office."

"I could do that… really, I don't mind the rain." That was a lie. June hated being wet. She was terrified of lightning storms, and she was always afraid of slipping on the wet grass.

"Actually, there are more personal matters that concern me right now. Don't worry, I'll give you a proper pay for your trouble and for leaving you on your own for non-business-related reasons."

"O…kay…" June watched as he left. She set her umbrella behind the counter and leaned against the smooth wood. She drummed her fingers for a couple minutes, then she walked around, looking at the different items in stock. She was flipping through the clothing catalog in the far left corner when she heard the door slide open. She turned. "Welcome to Nook'n'Go!" She said cheerily. Then, she realized who had walked through the door.

It was Andy, toting a few fish.

"Andy!" June became a little embarrassed at her appearance. She was wearing her work uniform and looked like a helpless employee. She _was_ a helpless employee, she determined.

"Nook's not in?"

"Andy! I wanted to thank you so much for the hammock!"

"Oh, yeah. No problem."

"Really… I mean… what made you get it for me? I mean…"

"You didn't have a bed. Everyone needs a bed. It's a necessity of life."

"Well… thank you… What can I do for you? I mean… I want to repay you. I really want to repay you…"

"It seems you have enough repayment to take care of…" Andy pointed out. "I'll come back when Nook's here."

"I heard you were at Rosetown…" June tried to start conversation. "And… you're a good friend of Gabe."

"What's it to you?"

"I'm sorry… I just… wanted to make conversation… I know Gabe, so…"

"You know Gabe?"

"Yeah… He was at K. K.'s concert yesterday."

"Oh yeah. That."

"Why didn't you go?"

Andy was silent. "I don't know. Didn't feel like it, I guess."

"I'm sure Gabe was happy to see you today."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever."

"I know he was." June forced a smile. "They were talking about how you caught a bee and had beestings all over your face at the Roost."

Andy exhaled sharply. "Those animals and their gossip."

"It was a fun story about you… nothing harmful…"

"Sure. Whatever."

June realized that her conversation was getting nowhere. She shot her eyes downcast and uttered, "Have a good day."

Andy waited a moment, then he left the store.

June went back to flipping through the catalog. She saw a lot of cute shirts that she would like to wear. She decided to go to Rosetown tonight and check out the store itself. That would have to be after she toured the museum here in Thornville with Pawpi.

June turned again at the sound of the door.

"Hello! Welcome to Nook'n'Go!" she said as Huey bounded in.

"Whoa! He's got you doing _his_ job now!"

"It's not bad."

Huey put away his hypno parasol umbrella and started walking around the store. "I just came to see if ol' Nook has anything good today, Hippity-Hop."

"Go ahead. I'm allowed to sell… I'm just not allowed to buy."

"That explains me running into Andy earlier. He still had a bunch of fish with him."

"I couldn't hold him here for long…"

"You talked to him?"

"Yeah… kinda." She sighed. "He was at Rosetown today…"

"Oh, yeah. I know. Quite a shock, really."

"Everyone keeps telling me that he and Gabe are close."

"Yeah, almost as close as brothers… almost."

"So what's the problem?"

"It all started last month. With Pauly."

"Who's Pauly?"

"A really close friend of Andy. He lived in Rosetown. Andy and Gabe would always hang out with him, Hippity-Hop. They were always together."

"How do you know this?"

"I used to live in Rosetown. Moved here a little after the incident."

"Incident?" June's curiosity made her lean in unintentionally.

Huey laughed. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you."

"PLEASE! It would explain a lot!"

"Ha! Alright."

Apparently Pauly was a blue eagle who used to live in Rosetown. When Andy first went over to visit Gabe, Gabe introduced him to Pauly, one of his best friends there. They would catch bugs and fish and even started a grove of fruit trees. There were more than just Rosetown's apples. There were oranges, peaches, pears, and cherries as well. Huey had been back to see if the grove was still there. It was, but much of the fruit was still on the trees. Either that or they had fallen on the ground on their own, without being shaken down.

It was really sudden and without warning that Pauly left. He sent both of the boys a letter, saying that he was really sorry he had to leave, but life's like that sometimes. He wished them luck in their lives and hoped that he would see them again. And that was that. When Andy saw the letter, he took the first train out of Thornville to visit Gabe, who was equally concerned. They couldn't reply back. They couldn't find out his new mailing address. It was as if he had fallen off the face of the earth.

Andy got angry, while Gabe became very upset. Huey had never seen Gabe like that before. He had tried his best to cheer the boys up, but nothing helped. Ever since then, they didn't really visit each other that much. It was as if something had left them… something that could never be restored.

"All in all," Huey was saying, "Andy's a nice guy. Really, he is, Hippity-Hop."

"Wow… that's all so sad," June felt like she would cry. "Do you have any idea what made him leave so abruptly?"

"No… Not at all."

It was just then that Tom Nook came back into the store. June's eyes bulged for a second, but she stood up straight and smiled at Huey. "Did you find anything you would like to purchase today?"

Huey turned and saw Nook and smirked. "Not yet, Hippity-Hop. But I'll let you know." He winked and continued browsing.

June came over to Nook. "Andy came by to sell some fish, but he said he'd come back later since you were out."

Nook nodded, "Good. Good." He grabbed some paperwork and wrote down a few things. "750 bells. You're free to go, June. I expect you bright and early again tomorrow."

"Yessir!" With that, she skipped outside, where the rain was now barely a light drizzle. She poked her head back in the store. "Mr. Nook? Do you want this umbrella back?"

"No, June. That's yours."

"Thanks, Mr. Nook. Really, for everything."

When she stepped outside, Pawpi was walking toward his house. "Arf! Hey, June!" he waved.

"Hi, Pawpi!"

"Guess who I just saw in the post office!" He was now right beside her.

"Who?"

"Tom Nook."

"Yeah. Apparently he had some errands to run."

"I wouldn't call it an errand. Unless he was checking customer complaints or something."

"What do you mean?"

"You know how you can save a letter in the post office?"

"Yeah…"

"He was looking at old letters. I figured it may have something to do with Sable."

"He really was discontent today. But he seemed fine when he came back. Happier, even."

Pawpi nodded with a smile. "June… I think he and Sable were a kid couple!"

June's mouth dropped. "Then why on earth do they hate each other now?"

"We know it has something to do with the move."

"Yeah…" June looked back at Nook's shop. "I can't blame him for why he moved. He wanted to find himself… to become successful."

"Yeah, but at what cost?"

"Excuse me… I have to do something…" June scurried back into the store.

Huey had left, and Nook was examining his income charts.

"Mr. Nook?"

"Hm?" he looked up. "June? What are you doing here?"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Why on earth would you ask me that?"

"Mr. Nook… I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but—"

"Oh, _that_! Don't you worry yourself, June. It's quite alright."

"It is?"

"Yes."

"So… Sable…"

"Is a part of my past. They say don't look back, so I'm not looking back!"

June's heart fell. "That can't be right."

"Well it's right for me!"

"Mr. Nook… You couldn't possibly be happy…"

"Well, I am!"

"What happened between you and Sable?"

"Nothing that concerns you!" He was glaring at her now. She had stepped too far.

She hung her head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Nook. I won't bother you again." She left the store.

She knew exactly where to go. She ran to the train station and boarded with Porter. When the train stopped at Rosetown, she hurried off and ran to Gabe's house. His gyroid danced at her approach, and she knocked loudly on the door.

"Yeah?" Gabe answered the door. "Hey! What's up?"

"I know it's just gossip and drama… but I can't help but think that I can help him somehow…"

"What are you talking about?"

"I have this tendency to want to help people when they don't get along… but Tom Nook won't tell me anything. I figure you knew Sable's side of the story… so…"

"It's not my story to tell, really, June. But I understand. All I can really say is that Tom Nook wasn't there for her when she needed him the most."

"What do you mean?"

Gabe invited her inside his house. It was so much bigger compared to hers, yet still a bit small. He sat across from her on a yellow sofa while she took a seat on the rocking chair by the window. "Sable and Mabel are sisters. They lived by Nook in a small town. Nook moved away. Then the sisters' parents died."

"That's awful!"

"Sable was forced to grow up… to take care of her infant sister."

"Wow…"

"Tom Nook didn't say a word. He didn't write a letter. He didn't call. He didn't attend the funeral or even visit. He abandoned her! And that is why they can never be as they were!"

"That's terrible! I can't believe Mr. Nook would do such a thing… I mean… he had to have a reason, right?"

"You can try to see the good in him if you want, June, but I'm sure that nothing was important enough for him to stay. Nothing but the bells he counts and the business he runs! He's ruthless!"

June felt uncomfortable. Was this truly Nook's character? Would he truly abandon a dear friend in a heartbeat if money were involved? No… there had to be something.

Her friends' and acquaintances' stories were all so new to her, and there was so much more to come. But as sure as she lived in Thornville, she would try to fix the problems, no matter how unsolvable they seemed.


	5. Chapter 5

-Chapter 5-

Good Fishes, Thanks, and Giving

June gasped upon seeing the first fossil before her. It was a T-Rex. Actually, it was just the skull of a T-Rex. Pawpi laughed out loud, "Arf! Ha, ha, ha! It's just a fossil!"

"It looks like a floating man-eating head!" June caught her breath.

"That's just 'cause it isn't fully restored yet."

"Well, it's creepy. It's just hovering there…"

"It's attached to that pole."

"Still…"

She and Pawpi looked around some more at the room. It was a large area filled with fossils the likes of which June had never seen before.

"Who donated all these?" she asked, looking at the plaque beneath an egg fossil. "Gabe?"

"Gabe and Andy both," Pawpi explained. "It was awhile ago… they went on this week of fossil expeditions in Thornville then again in Rosetown. I was part of the search here, but I couldn't find much. And I think they got help from a friend in Rosetown too."

"Pauly?"

" _That's_ his name! I couldn't remember. Yeah, he was a good friend of theirs."

They came to the western part of the room and walked through the door to a place that looked like the outdoors.

Pawpi announced, "This is where they keep the bugs."

"Ew… I'm not too fond of bugs…" June squirmed.

"Ha! Alright, then." Pawpi turned them back around and through the fossil room to the door to the east.

June couldn't help but remember what Brewster said about Andy catching all those bugs, and the evasive and aggressive bee. She stopped and looked back at the room. "Just a sec." She ran back in and looked through all the plants. There she saw a fake bee's nest, out of which was crawling a bee. "There it is…" she whispered to herself. "Amazing." She hurried back out and followed Pawpi into the next room.

"Here are the fish."

"Wow! Look at them all!"

"Our only complete collection, wot," a refined voice unfamiliar to June spoke. She watched as an owl came from behind one of the cases. "Every fish and crustacean known to us is here. We even have a frog!" He smiled and put his wings on his hips. "That's right! From the crawfish to the great white shark… even as far as the Arapaima and Coelacanth!"

"Wow!"

"All donated by Thornville's own: Andy!"

"That's amazing! He caught all of those fish?"

"And he was awarded a golden fishing rod for his efforts. I and the mayor pitched in to reward him for what he accomplished."

"That's pretty neat!"

"A Golden Rod! Actually, I believe it was fool's gold lined with real gold. Fool's gold, or pyrite, is actually the most common sulfide mineral. Interesting to think how gold is so valuable and rare, yet fool's gold is one of the most common things one will ever find, eh wot?"

"Uh…" June was lost.

Pawpi chuckled.

"Oh, no… Here I go rambling again. I am truly sorry, my dear. Please, enjoy yourself here in the museum!" Blathers left the room.

"His sister didn't even speak to us in Thornville… and he rattled off about… I don't know what!" June shook her head.

Pawpi continued to laugh.

June smiled, then she went through the room to look at the extraordinary fish. "Wow…" She turned to Pawpi. "I would love to have a fishing rod to fish!"

"You should join the fishing tourneys!"

"The what?"

"Every Sunday this month, we hold fishing tourneys by the large lake. The one who catches the largest freshwater fish wins a prize!"

"That sounds like fun!"

"But… first you need a rod."

"Ugh… I can't buy anything from Nook. He's a little defensive with his dough."

"Ha, ha. That's Nook for you." Pawpi thought a minute. "Tell you what… I'll get you a fishing rod, and you can just pay me back by catching me a fish for dinner."

"Sounds like a deal!" June nodded. "Thanks Pawpi!"

"I guess I'll get it for you now. You'd be surprised how many cool fish you can find while it's raining like this!"

He and June left the museum, opened their umbrellas, and went back to June's pad. Pawpi didn't close his gelato umbrella yet, though, and hurried over to Nook's. Just then, June heard a knock at her door. She went over and opened it.

"Good evening, Sweetie!" Ginger was in the doorway, carrying a daisy umbrella.

June let her in. "Hi, Ginger! What's up?"

"I just thought I'd stop by and see how you're settling in. Not being able to purchase anything must be a real hassle… but you seem to be doing well."

"You all are so generous here."

"Ah, yes, I suppose so." Ginger sat down on the ranch chair. "What a nice cozy room. When you have a small house, it seems more homey, doesn't it?"

"If you want to look on the bright side of things… I guess it kinda does."

"You _are_ making progress on your loan, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

Just then, Pawpi returned and knocked at the door. "Oh, hey, Ginger!" he greeted, handing June her new rod.

"A fishing rod?"

"I want to go fishing!" June explained.

Pawpi explained, "I figured now's as good a time as any… the rain brings lots of interesting fish, right?"

Ginger smiled, "Yes, I suppose it does."

"Arf! Plus, it's good practice for the fishing tourney on Sunday!"

"Ah, I see."

"Well," June headed for the door. "I'm ready to go now!"

Fishing took up the rest of the evening. And since she was shooed away from work the next day, she went back to the center pond. She figured her catches would get better with practice. On November 21st, she joined the fishing tourney and almost won the prize. She lost to Eggbert, who was very good at sitting and waiting.

"Better luck next time," Pawpi shrugged.

June was already in a sour mood. Ever since that last Thursday, Nook had not welcomed her in the store. "Boy, can that guy hold a grudge!" she had sighed. "But it's his loss. I can't pay my debt without working, right?"

She was talking to Ginger before the Thanksgiving feast at the wishing well. However, when it was time to eat, all the worries of life lifted. Tom Nook even came to the feast, and he expressed his regret to her. She was pretty sure that he only regretted the fact that he did not have a helper and did not have his money, but she accepted his apology and agreed to come back on Monday.

The Thanksgiving feast was as it always was, the animals expressed. June found it odd that the Thanksgiving meal was fish, but that explained why the fishing tourneys took place in November. Pawpi told her a story of when Tortimer invited a turkey to the Rosetown dinner one year, "You should have seen this guy! He was so paranoid of all of us, which was a shame because not all of us wanted to eat him. Arf! Haha!"

June looked up from her fish, "So in other words, Tortimer was planning to serve him for dinner?"

"Arf! Yeah! But get this… Gabe kept stealing the silverware off the table for him!"

"Really?"

"He was terrified of the forks and knives. Soon after the Harvest Festival, Gabe put up a sign on the bulletin board that said. 'Franklin is a friendly turkey. We should gather the fish from the tourneys to eat for thanksgiving, so as not to make Franklin the main course!"

"Wow!"

June was sitting between Ginger and Pawpi. Pawpi was next to Chip, who was across from Eggbert. Eggbert was next to Vivian, who was across from Pawpi. Ginger was across from Huey, who provided the energy for the whole table. He just could not get enough of the cherries that were displayed beautifully in their serving dish. That was much to the annoyance of Andy, who sat between him and Vivian, right across from June. June awkwardly tried to talk to him over her bass. She had never really seen much of him, not since the encounter at the store. But she so desperately wanted to be friends with him. "Um… so… Andy… what are you thankful for?" she asked.

"What a great idea! We should all go around saying what we're thankful for!" Ginger agreed. "Go ahead, Sweetie!"

Andy fidgeted uncomfortably. "I guess… home."

"Well said!" Huey patted him on the back, which startled him and made his brow furrow. "I'm thankful that our fruit here are cherries! Yummy!"

"Well, I am thankful for all of you here," Ginger stated. "My friends… my family."

"That's so sweet, Ginger!" June smiled. "I'm thankful that I've been accepted among you all so quickly! I'm so grateful to have a home and a family here."

Pawpi put an arm around her. "And I'm thankful you found your way here to Thornville! Arf! I'm always happy to make a new friend!"

Chip nodded. "Let's see… something different… I'm thankful for K.K. coming twice a week!" He shrugged. "Even though we didn't get to go yesterday." It was true, for everyone was getting ready for Thanksgiving festivities. However, June and Pawpi went that past Saturday, gaining a new track for them. June was able to talk to K.K. some more, too. After Pawpi left, they talked quite awhile. He even insisted that she call him Totakeke.

Eggbert poked at his fish. "I'm thankful for my win!" he exclaimed simply.

The others laughed. "Well, I'm thankful for me!" Vivian said. "I'm glad I'm who I am!"

"That's very deep, Vivian…" June commented.

"Or shallow…" Pawpi whispered.

"Hey!" Vivian crossed her wings.

The others laughed once again. June looked across the table at Andy. He did not look very well, but that was how she knew him to look. The last Thanksgiving he had was probably with Pauly and Gabe at Rosetown. June was already trying to think of the best gift she could give him at Christmastime. She felt she still owed him for the hammock. He was so sweet, but at the same time, so hard to be friendly toward. She decided to give up talking to him for now, and she turned to her friends sitting beside her. She had a lot to be thankful for.

That was especially true when Nook let her work again. She would not normally like the job, but she felt bad having that debt hanging over her head. She did not make a lot of money that week, but she did visit Rosetown with Pawpi that Wednesday.

June wanted to ask Gabe about Pauly, but she did not want to bring up the pain of that time.

"June, everything okay?" Gabe asked as he sipped his coffee.

"Y-Yeah. I'm good," June insisted.

Gabe and Pawpi looked at each other and shrugged. June was never very outgoing and open, so they decided to let her be. "Oh, Pawpi! Guess what?"

"Arf?" Pawpi asked. June went back to staring into her mug.

"Celeste found a new constellation! And she wants me to name it!"

"Really? That's great! What are you going to name it?"

"Don't know yet. Want to see it? Maybe you can help me!"

"Sure thing!"

The boys stood and started upstairs. "June, you can come too!" Gabe called behind him.

June started to get up.

"I can reheat that for you…" Brewster mumbled, pointing to her untouched coffee.

"Oh…" June sighed. "I'm sorry, Brewster… I just have a lot on my mind."

"It looked like it."

"First, I have a debt that isn't even close to being halfway paid… Then there's all this drama with my boss and the Able Sisters here… and… Andy back at Thornville won't talk to me… It just seems like anytime I try to engage him in a conversation, he's annoyed…"

"I'm sure it is nothing like that, June." Brewster took the mug and put it in the microwave. "Say… do you know about Pauly?"

" _You_ know about Pauly?"

"Of course! He would come here with the boys quite often."

"Brewster… do you know where Pauly moved?"

"Not a clue. No one knows. No one knows why either. Sometimes, animals have to move away. It's a part of life."

"I know… but it's so sad. And it made the boys so… different." She sighed. "It affected Andy very much."

"I know. Andy was full of energy. He's always been a bit of a grump and a pessimist, but with Gabe and Pauly, they were a joyful bunch. That's when he caught the bee, you know. Pauly and him stayed up all night for a week."

"That's amazing!"

"Gabe did not want to get stung, so he stayed out of it. And he was happy he did, don't get me wrong."

"So… Pauly was a good friend."

"It was sad when he left… sad for everyone in Rosetown. But like I said, it wasn't the first time, and it won't be the last."

"It's life."

"Exactly." Brewster gave her the coffee again.

She sipped it and smiled. "Thank you, Brewster."

"No problem, June. It is my pleasure to serve you."

Gabe and Pawpi came back down. "No way! It's not going to happen!" Gabe was laughing.

"But 'starburst' is such a good name for a constellation!" Pawpi argued, equaling Gabe's smile.

"It's not supposed to be straightforward!"

June laughed. "You're trying to name a bunch of stars 'starburst'? There's nothing more perfect, Gabe."

"Don't encourage him!" Gabe laughed again.

"Let me take a look at this!" June finished her coffee and paid. Then she slid off the stool and followed Gabe upstairs, with Pawpi behind.

Celeste was up there, going through charts and graphs. She noticed them come in, but she didn't show it. June looked through the telescope. "That patch of five stars right there?"

"Yeah," Gabe nodded.

"I think 'starburst' is good!"

Gabe playfully nudged her.

"Okay, fine… How about… if that star… is a head… and those four stars… they kind of look like wings… Actually… it kinda looks like an—" She stopped herself.

"What? A what?"

"N-Nothing."

"Come on, stop playing, you were about to say something marvelous!"

"No… it really doesn't look like it. Never mind."

Gabe tilted his head at her. "Okay, 'fess up! Come on!"

"Fine. I was gonna say… it looks like… an… eagle."

Gabe bit his lip. "You know, huh?"

"Gabe, I'm sorry."

"No that's okay. You were bound to find out. You have such a way into stories, June."

"No… I'm sorry about Pauly."

"Yeah… me too. He was our best friend, mine and Andy's." He grew silent.

"Pauly…" Pawpi whispered. "That sounds like a good name for a constellation."

Gabe looked at him. "He'd like that." He smiled. "He was always so timid, you know. Nervous, I think. When I first met him he looked at me like I was going to rob him!" He chuckled at the memory.

"Brewster said that Pauly helped Andy catch the bee," June remembered.

"Yeah, that was a little out-of-character for him. I think he was trying to impress someone. Possibly Andy, actually. You know how Andy is. He can seem kind of cold at times… antisocial. I guess Pauly took it personally and wanted to give him a reason to have him as a friend."

"Did he get stung?"

"Yeah. The two of them were a mess! Pauly didn't want to go out in public looking like that, but Andy walked right into Brewster's like the stings were a crown!"

June laughed along with Pawpi and Gabe as they returned to the ground floor of the museum.

"Oh, Ginger wanted me to get some coconuts for her!" Pawpi barked when they left. "I almost forgot! Arf! I would have been in trouble!"

"You have coconuts?" June asked.

"Yeah," Gabe nodded. "The Capp'n let me bring them over."

"The Capp'n?"

"He's a funny old turtle who rows a river boat out to an island a bit of a ways from the shore. You can kinda see it in the distance. I'll point it out to you."

The three of them approached the beach to the south, and while Pawpi shook some coconut trees, Gabe pointed out to a small shadow of an island in the distance. "Looks beautiful from here!"

"I should get you out there sometime, June. You'll love it! And you'll love Uan. He's the islander."

"Sounds great!" June turned toward the north and saw a building an acre away. "Hey… what's that building there? It doesn't look like a house."

"Oh, that's the tailor's. It's the Able Sister's shop."

"The Able Sisters!" June peered at it. Even with all the talk about their past with Nook, June had never met these porcupines. "I'd love to check out the place…"

"Sure thing!" Gabe grabbed her wrist and pulled her along.

A slight bell rang when they entered the door. "Good evenin', Gabe!" a cheery blue porcupine grinned widely. "Oh!" she noticed June. "A new visitor?"

"This is June. She lives in Thornville."

"Well, it's nice of ya to stop on by!" June noticed a bit of a twang in the porcupine's accent.

June smiled and nodded, her shyness taking over again. She began to glance around the shop. There was cloth messily strewn just about everywhere. Clothes were lined up on display and accessories were along a counter. Soon, her eyes fell upon a brown hedgehog in the back whom she had not noticed before. She had drooping eyes that made her look almost sad, and dark freckles that made her older appearance look a little younger.

"Sable!" the blue one called back. "Why don't you welcome our new guest?"

"I'm really quite busy, Mabel…" Sable replied quietly. "You can take care of it."

June hurriedly stated, "Oh, it's no problem, I'm just browsing… um…"

Gabe laughed. "Don't worry about it, you two! Man! With the two of you I bet it would be such a quiet evening! That is, if Mabel wasn't there." He gave a sly glance at the blue porcupine sister.

"Hey!" she shot back cheerily. "Just cuz it's true, don't mean ya have ta say such things, Gabe!"

Gabe and her continued to laugh as June glanced at a bag of feather hair pins. "Beautiful…" she whispered to herself, picking them up. There were many colors to choose from in the bag, which was apparently on sale in bulk.

"Ya like those? Ya want 'em?" June jumped at Mabel's voice behind her. She hadn't noticed that the laughter had stopped and the porcupine made her way over to her.

"Oh, um… yes, please."

"Yeah. They're rather purdy, right?"

June nodded, noticing that Gabe was talking to Sable, who was pointing at a photograph at her sewing table. She remembered Pawpi saying something about him getting her to open up. It must take some time.

"Always a pleasure to have you visit with us," she heard Sable say. Her twang was less prominent and her voice was clearly older and more mature.

"Always a pleasure to come, Sable!" Gabe replied.

The two of them left the tailor's and Gabe walked June to the station. "They're nice, aren't they?" June commented.

"Yeah. Those two are so sweet!" Gabe hesitated. "Sorry about Sable though… or Mabel… or I guess both. Sable can come off cold to people she doesn't know. And Mabel, well, sometimes she's very…"

"Energetic?"

"That's an understatement."

The two of them chuckled. June stepped on the train and waved a last goodbye as the train took off to Thornville.

"Howdy, June!" Rover jumped on the seat right in front of her. "Still working for Nook? He's really getting stubborn with the dough, huh? Well, I guess there's not much you can do!"

By the time she got back to Thornville, Rover had lightened up a bit. He really was rather nosey. In fact, she considered, he may know some things about Nook and Sable… and Pauly… and even Porter. June hadn't thought about it much since her first trip to Rosetown, but Porter's whole life was that train. She wondered if he, too, had a story.


	6. Chapter 6

-Chapter 6-

Let It Snow!

The first snowfall had finally come. June stepped out of Nook's on Friday, December 3rd and found herself in a winter wonderland. She lowered her snow hat over her ears and trudged through the fresh whiteness. Suddenly, she felt a cold punch at her shoulder, and a laugh rang out.

"Huey!" she yelled. She knelt down and prepared a nice snowball to return. Their fight continued until they got to her house, where Pawpi was sticking something in the mailbox.

"Arf! Hey, June! I hoped I would catch you!" he waved. "I was just inviting everyone to my annual Frosty Party!"

"Frosty Party?" June took the flyer from her mailbox and looked at it.

"Yeah! I always have it in December after the first snowfall. Can you make it tomorrow, June?"

"I wouldn't miss it!"

"Great!"

"I'm training for the snowball war!" Huey tossed another one, this time at Pawpi.

"Hey, Huey!" Pawpi barked. "Save it for the battlefield, will you?"

Huey bounded away laughing.

"Don't be too concerned," Pawpi shook his head. "Snowball fights aren't the only things to do. We also have snowman-building competitions. And of course I'll be serving hot cocoa and peppermint treats!"

"Sounds like a blast, Pawpi! Should I bring anything?"

"Just yourself, June!" Pawpi winked. "Well, I gotta go shopping for some ingredients. I have to take the train to the other station, because Nook won't carry most of the stuff I need… like ingredients and stuff."

"Would you like some company?"

"Sure, June. That'd be great!"

The two of them headed to the station. When the train came in, Porter welcomed them as always, and they boarded. "Just a second, Pawpi, I'll be right in to sit with you."

"Kay, June."

June headed to the front, where she saw Porter pressing a button that started the train. "Um… excuse me?"

Porter turned with a start. He was apparently not used to being spoken to while controlling the train. "Oh! June! Eek, eek, something the matter?"

"No, nothing like that. I was just thinking about what you said when we first met… about how you never get a day off."

"Oh, yeah." Something told June he was just thinking about that too.

"Not even Christmas Day?"

Porter frowned. "No worries."

June shook her head. "I feel bad, Porter. Please let me help."

"Huh?" He tilted his head curiously. "What do you suggest you do?"

"Somehow give you a week or so off! I'll replace you. All you have to do is show me the ropes."

Porter shook his head. "I can't ask you to do what I do for a week!"

"Then make it five days!"

"No way. You have no idea how crazy it gets…"

"How about December 23rd, 24th, and 25th?"

Porter bit his lips. She could tell his better judgment was telling him to refuse the offer, but she could also see his eyes glow at the prospect of spending Christmas Day without working. Who knew? Maybe he had family he would like to see. "Fine…" he finally said.

June cheered. "Good! I'll be here December 22nd after my job at Nook's. He's giving me Thursday and Friday off anyway, so I'll be right here Wednesday night."

"If you happen to change your mind…"

"I won't."

"But if you do, I won't be mad. Eek EEK! Honest."

June smiled at him pitiably. He looked so sad, so depressing. "I'll see you the 22nd." She turned around and left, returning to Pawpi.

After telling him what she was doing, they talked about the parties of previous years. Pawpi said that Pauly had come two years ago. That was apparently the only time that they spent much time around each other, that's why Pawpi had barely remembered him. He also expressed that he hoped Andy would come this year, but doubted it. Last year, he had really shown himself to be not much of a party person. Pauly didn't go that year, possibly because he felt he didn't fit in with anyone except Andy and Gabe. Gabe was there, but he could only do so much for Andy.

"The guy's really hopeless sometimes, you know?" Pawpi sighed.

June smiled sympathetically. She had known all too well how hard it was to get Andy to treat her as a friend instead of an annoyance. It wasn't that he hated her, he just didn't like being social.

"Arf! I invited Tortimer last year," Pawpi continued.

"Really?" June realized she had not seen much of the mayor. She had seen him down the table at the Fall Feast, but not otherwise. "Did he come?"

"Nope!" Pawpi said amusedly. "He said, 'That stuff is for young whippersnappers! I'm taking a holiday at the island!' And that was the end of that." Pawpi peered at her curiously. "You never met him yet, have you?"

"Not officially."

"Word to the wise… Butter him up… kiss up to him as much as possible."

"Really? Why?"

"He rants. One time Gabe told him that he respects his mother the most, and he didn't hear the end of it. When Andy told him about being raised by his grandfather and therefore respecting _him_ the most, he had nothing but good things to say."

"Wow."

"But he won't hold it against you, I guess. He's just really sensitive."

June laughed. "Wow… I'll try not to bother him then."

"He does pride himself in knowing everyone in the towns though, so you should meet him officially before… well… sooner rather than later."

"I hope I don't insult him…"

"You'll be fine. He'll love you."

The train had finally come to a stop. The two of them hopped out onto the platform of the station. Rose looked around. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.

"Welcome to no-man's land," Pawpi laughed, seeing her bewildered expression. "We catch a bus here to go into the city."

June was looking at a little computer-like machine by where they were dropped off.

"Oh, that's how we let Porter know we need picked up by the train. That's our ride back home."

"Wow… so high-tech for a train."

"Yeah. But that way, the train doesn't make unnecessary stops here. When it does make a stop here, the passengers have to pay a toll. I did that on the way here on the train."

"Oh, I see." She watched as Pawpi pressed a button that would call the bus. Very soon, the bus pulled up to them and they hopped in.

In no time at all, they were in the city. June gaped at all the buildings. After coming from Thornville, the landscape looked like it was made of stone and steel. It pretty much was. There was a hair salon, a fashion store, branches of general stores and other necessities. Pawpi and she went inside a grocer. June had never seen so many people in one place before. She and Pawpi could barely fit down some aisles as Pawpi grabbed everything he needed.

"Alright!" he said when they had gone through the register. "All we need now are some new decorations and the party favors."

They stepped outside to an onslaught of snow. "It's really coming down out here!" June spoke loudly.

"Yeah. We better get a move on!" Pawpi shouted back.

They entered a party store, and the mouse behind the counter seemed to recognize Pawpi. She smiled teasingly, "I see it's that time of year again! Once I saw that first snowflake, I knew you'd be here, P."

Pawpi nodded. "You know me too well now, B."

"Who's your friend?"

"This is June. She moved to town mid-November."

"And you already got her doing your shopping? You're one sly dog, P. Haha! Get it?"

Pawpi chuckled. "Always the humorous one, B." He turned to June. "This is Bernadette, but she likes being called B."

"It's quicker and funner, my friend," B noted.

"It's nice to meet you, B," June said shyly.

"Ooh, she's a shy one, huh? Don't be afraid to speak up, J!"

June blushed and turned to look at the merchandise.

Pawpi smiled sympathetically and finished up quickly.

"See you again later, P! And feel free to join him in his city visits, J. Hey! Together we're P, B, and J! Hahahahahahaha—"

Her laughter drowned out as they closed the door and entered the snowstorm outside. "Arf! Let's go, June! We've got to get out of this storm!"

"Sure thing!"

Pawpi pressed the button on the edge of the city street for the bus, but the screen that would normally tell how long the wait would be flashed the words: WEATHER PROBLEM, and right below it: BUS NOT RUNNING. "Oh no!" Pawpi cried. He pressed the button again and again, but it still said the same thing.

"Now what?" June shouted against the wind.

"The bus won't be running because of this snow!" Pawpi panicked. "I'm going to be late for my own party!"

June pulled him out of the crazy weather and into a diner. She ordered a cup of tea for each of them, and they took a seat. "Pawpi, don't worry. You're party doesn't start until 1:00 tomorrow afternoon. The bus should be running again by then."

"But I have to set up! I usually give myself the night before and the morning of!" Pawpi sighed and buried his head in his arms.

June sighed. "Don't worry. I'll help out." She looked out the window. "Besides, I've never seen the city yet. It'll be nice to look around, even though the snow is crazy out there."

"Arf…" Pawpi sighed.

June thanked the waiter for the tea and urged Pawpi to drink up. After they finished, they went outside to walk the city streets.

For it being so snowy, there was quite a lot of animals bustling by. June and Pawpi headed into many of the shops, which began to cheer Pawpi up a bit. That was… until a snowball landed right at the nape of his neck. "Arf! Ow!" he turned angrily. "Who threw that?!"

There was a cackle as a small monkey with an incredible resemblance to Porter rolled around the snowy ground. He was wearing a yellow snowsuit with matching scarf, hat, and gloves.

Pawpi growled. "Why are you throwing snowballs at strangers?!"

"Because it's hilarious! Choo, CHOO!" the monkey almost snorted.

June quickly built her own snowball and tossed it as hard as she could at the moving target. She hit him right at the nose, making him stop laughing immediately.

"Hey!" He jumped up angrily. "What you do that for? Choo, CHOO!"

"Leave us alone! We didn't do anything to you!" June had suddenly felt angry for Pawpi's sake.

"That doesn't give you a right to hit someone in the face!" The monkey was now hopping up and down chaotically. June noticed that the monkey was actually rather young. He was small and childish. Not to mention he pulled an immature prank. But he really was young. Perhaps very much younger than herself and Pawpi, perhaps still a kid.

"Where do you live, kid? Isn't your family going to be worried about you running around like crazy out here in this storm?"

"My family doesn't care about that! He doesn't even know where I am ever! As long as I'm in my room when he gets home, I don't get my ear chewed off… or is it out? Anyway! That's not the point! You just hit me in the face with a snowball!"

But June had lost him at the word "he." She felt she knew what would make a monkey so sad. "What's your name?"

"Champ…" the monkey whispered cautiously.

"Champ… I think I know your…" June thought carefully about what relation Porter could be to him. He's certainly much older, but not that much older. "Brother…" she decided on.

Pawpi looked at her curiously. "Huh?" he asked.

But Champ's eyes widened. "You know Porter?! Oh no! You came from Rose or Thorn, didn't you?"

"We're from Thornville," June said patiently. "Looks like you're messing with the wrong strangers."

"Yikes!" And just like that, Champ scurried off.

"Wait!" But it was too late. June made a note to talk to Porter about his kid brother as soon as they were able to get back to that train. But in the meantime, it was getting late, and they needed a place to stay the night. "Come on, Pawpi. Let's check into a hotel or something."

And they did. They fell asleep hoping that tomorrow wouldn't have chaotic snowfall like that night before.

When they woke up, it seemed their wish was granted. The sky was clear as they quickly headed for the bus button. June hoped to return to the city one day in better weather. She also reminded herself that she needed to talk to Porter.

"Ch-Champ? Eek… Eek!" Porter responded to her mention of the brother.

"He's a prankster, that's how much I could tell," June stated with a smile. "He seems like he's afraid of you, though, Porter."

Porter blushed. "I-I tend to lecture… He doesn't like sitting down to that. But it's…" He looked as if he was about to cry. "It's hard… working all day every day… I never really get to see him… Ever…"

"Then it's a good thing you'll see him this year for Christmas."

He looked up at her with watery eyes. "Eek, EEK! Thank you so much, June! I hope that I can repay you somehow, someday!"

"Just start planning what you'll be doing with your brother. And let him know that I say to behave himself."

Porter smiled and nodded vigorously. "You're a kind soul, June! Eek! EEK!"

June knew it was impossible, but the train seemed to be going faster and more gleefully across the tracks because of Porter's good mood. Soon enough, they were back in Thornville and rushing to Pawpi's house to set up. It was a little after nine, so they had less than four hours to prepare. June assured Pawpi that it was more than enough time.

She helped move around some of his furniture to accommodate more space for more people. Meanwhile, Pawpi was busy in the next room making the treats and cocoa. June was surprised he had a side room in his house and was slightly jealous. Next, she prepared the barriers and such for the outdoor activity of the snowball war. Pawpi had flags from previous years. Though he explained that the two teams lasted no longer than ten minutes and then it turned into a free-for-all brawl. By the time Ginger came by at 12:45, Pawpi was taking the baked goods out of the oven and everything else was set up.

"Wow, you let June help you?" Ginger asked. She mumbled to June, "He never lets anyone help."

June explained, "We were running late. We were snowed in the city."

"Wow! I bet he was one stressed pup!"

"You have no idea." June and Ginger shared a smile and took a seat on the folding chairs Pawpi had set up. He had just got around to serving them some hot chocolate when the other guests started arriving. Huey, as always, was on time. Chip, as always, was late. Gabe was fashionably late, as he had to come by train and had apparently lost track of time when he was fishing.

By the time he finished talking about how big the fish he caught was, they were all about ready for the snowball fight. "Arf," Pawpi started, "we need to split into teams."

"Oh come on, Pawpi!" Gabe fake-moaned. "We never keep them, so why bother?"

"We can't just wail snowballs at each oth—" He was cut off by a snowball at his ear thrown by Huey, who was bouncing up and down.

"And so it begins…" Ginger sighed, bending down to make some ammo.

"WAR!" Gabe shouted, throwing snowballs everywhere.

June laughed as she dove behind one of the barriers. She grabbed herself a fistful of snow and proceeded to pack a bunch of snowballs. She peeked out from behind her fort and noticed that the others had found shelter as well. She picked up one of her creations and waited.

Ginger was the first one to poke her head out. She threw the ball as fast as she could, hitting her ear as she tried to duck back down too late. Before she knew it, her hat flew off her head from a toss from Gabe, who had sneakily spotted her.

Huey called, "Come on, guys! It's no fun when we hide like this!"

"Look who's talking!" Pawpi called back. He was poked out, June noticed when she popped up. Huey had dug himself a little burrow.

June caught Pawpi's eye and gestured down at Huey and pointed to her snowball. Pawpi nodded and grabbed a couple himself. They slowly and quietly crept over to Huey's hole. Ginger, Chip, and Gabe caught on and headed out of safety to follow the plan.

Before Huey knew what hit him, the five of them threw their snowballs down at him.

"Ack! Ah!" Huey sputtered and yelled. "You jerks!"

The others fell over on the snow laughing. "Greatest plan ever, June!" Gabe shouted.

"Oh, so I have _you_ to thank for that?" Huey grabbed some snow and smashed it into her face.

"Hey!" June grabbed him and pulled him down into the snow.

The six of them laughed and ended up making some snow angels before Pawpi said. "Alright, guys. Want to do the snowmen now?"

"Alright! I claim over here!" Ginger ran around to the side of Pawpi's house.

After they all claimed their spots, they began. The points, Pawpi had told June this morning, were awarded to the fastest, most stylish, and most proportionate. Bonus points were added for size. He had also said that if the snowman was happy, there would be bonus points, but June didn't quite know what that meant. How would they know if a snowman was happy? All she could think of was making a smile on its face.

Huey was done long before the others, but Ginger would certainly win for style. Gabe was done with the last touches of his when June finally stuck the carrot nose in and formed a smile with rocks. She huffed and puffed and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "Making snowmen is hard work!"

"Only a hard worker could make a snowman as perfect as me!" a small voice cheered.

June shouted and fell back, "What the…?"

The others laughed. "It was the snowman, silly!" Chip told her.

"The snowman… talked?"

"We talk to show our appreciation or distress at our creation. You, my friend, I appreciate!"

"Um… I'm glad."

"Well, June's is happy!" Gabe pointed out.

"I think all of them are in good proportion," Ginger noted.

"We're all happy!" the snowmen cheered.

June smiled, impressed. "Well, then! I guess we all get bonus points for that."

"I think Ginger wins again," Gabe pointed. "She's always got good style on hers. She makes it so neat, too!"

The others agreed as the sun began to set. "Dinnertime, all!" Pawpi called.

They all headed inside for Pawpi's meal. They spent the rest of the evening talking about K.K. playing tonight. They decided to head up to the station at 9:00 and meet each other there. For now, they waved goodbye and returned home.

June offered Gabe a temporary shelter at her house before they went to see K.K. that night. Gabe accepted, but insisted that they should hang out with Andy. "I feel like I never see him," he said.

"Okay," June agreed. She was fine with it, but she was afraid that Andy wouldn't be.

When they made it to his house, Gabe knocked on the door as June stood nervously behind him. Andy opened the door slowly and looked at them. "Hey, Gabe," he grunted.

"Hey, Andy. Wanna hang out?" Gabe asked optimistically.

"Hmp. Whatever." He came outside.

June wondered how he could be such great friends with Gabe. She supposed Gabe wouldn't give up getting him to open up, like he did with Sable. Then again, she remembered that he was probably different before Pauly moved away. Maybe he was afraid to lose any other friend and was trying to get used to solitude. She swallowed. That was such a sad assumption. She mustered up all of her courage to weakly say, "Want to join us when we go listen to K.K. tonight?"

Gabe looked at her and smiled. "Yeah!" he agreed. "Please join us!"

June found it hard to look at him, because it seemed like he was leering at her. "Fine," he said, to June's surprise.

She smiled. She remembered that she never was able to find something to pay him back for that hammock. Perhaps she will eventually. She just needed to learn more about him.

"Hey, as the only people in this place full of animals, we may as well hang out more often!" Gabe was saying as they headed towards June's home.

June had a sudden realization that her house was not much more than cozy. She feared the boys' reactions. Neither had entered her house before.

"What's up, June?"

June hadn't noticed that she stopped walking. "Oh… sorry…" she started walking again, slowly. When she reached the door, she turned around nervously. "You know… my home is kinda… cozy…" She looked at Gabe, for she was too embarrassed to look toward Andy.

"Don't worry about it! We know how crazy Nook can be!" He gestured to Andy. "Andy's sold him fish and bugs and stuff… he probably knows as much as we do how cheap he can be!"

June caught Andy nodding out of the corner of her eye.

With a slight blush, she proceeded to open her door. In all honesty, her house was not that bad. It was plain, but it had all the essentials: that lamp she got on her first day from Pawpi, the hammock Andy had given her, the chair from Eggbert, and a table that housed the tape deck that came with the place. Gabe smiled and patted her back before taking a seat on the ranch chair. Andy leaned against the wall and June sat down on her hammock, swinging nervously forward and back with her feet.

"So what do you have yet to get from K.K.?" Gabe asked her, looking at the tape deck library.

"Um… a lot, actually," June answered, happy to have the silence broken. "I've almost got all the Ballroom ones though. All I need is K.K. Salsa…"

Gabe glanced quickly toward Andy. June followed his eyes to see Andy looking grimmer than usual. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She also knew that she would not be requesting that song tonight. Even though it wasn't stated, she knew what had caused such reactions. Everyone had their favorite K.K. songs. K.K. Salsa must have been Pauly's.

She was more than thankful when it was finally 9:00. They all headed to the station and met Pawpi, Ginger, Chip, and Huey, who all seemed thrilled to see Andy there. Huey nearly knocked him over as he bounded toward him, much to his annoyance. Once K.K. started playing though, all was calm. Keeping to her promise she made herself, June did not request K.K. Salsa. Instead, she got to hear Agent K.K., which was pretty cool.

When he was done playing, Gabe headed back to Rosetown and Andy left for his house without so much as a goodbye to any of them. June hung around to talk to K.K., or Totakeke, as she knew him.

"What's happening, June?" he asked in that smooth voice.

"Nothing too exciting," she replied with a shrug.

"That's what I love about these small towns, my friend. You don't get this kind of chill quiet in the city."

"Totakeke, do you happen to know a monkey by the name of Champ?"

"That little prankster has caught my attention several times. Why?"

June smiled sadly. "He's Porter's little brother, you know."

"You don't say. Well, then, that's interesting."

"Yeah. Especially with how calm and responsible Porter is. He appears almost completely human compared to his brother's monkeying around!"

Totakeke laughed.

The conversation lasted not much longer, and soon June was asleep, thinking about what she believed Porter would do with his brother on his days off.


	7. Chapter 7

-Chapter 7-

In the Bleak Midwinter

The days seemed to be going quicker and quicker until June would take Porter's place on the train. In the meantime, she had been working hard at Nook's and trying to catch a glimpse of Tortimer.

June rode the train and said hello to Porter. She had planned to visit his brother and learn more about him. From what she could tell by their last encounter and by what Porter told her, he was scared of his brother's lectures. He probably couldn't stand sitting still and listening to him. Porter never seemed the lecturing type to her, though. He wasn't one to drone on and on like Blathers or be prone to make snide, sarcastic comments like Rover.

When she got to the city, finding the monkey was not hard at all. She followed the path of irritated animals that were covered in bits of snow despite the lack of snowfall that night. She eventually came across the kid hiding on the roof of the hair salon.

"Hey, Champ!" she called up. "Wanna come down?"

"You again!" he groaned. "Whattaya want? Choo, CHOO!"

"I wanna talk to you!"

"Blech! You're worse than my brother!"

"I just want you to tell me a little about yourself… answer some questions."

" _M_ - _Me_?" he asked, poking his head down. "You want to hear from _me_?"

And that was when June learned the real issue. Porter was almost never home, she had already noted to herself. When he was, he told his brother off for all he did that day. He didn't have time to actually spend with the kid. She couldn't blame him, though, especially after seeing how glum he was sometimes. He knew it wasn't right, but he couldn't do anything about it. That's why he was so excited about June's offer. She knew then, no matter how tough it ended up being or whether she wanted to quit or pull out, she wouldn't do it. Not for the whole wild world. She couldn't. Porter would finally have time to spend with Champ. He would even spend Christmas with him. "What do you want for Christmas?" June asked the little monkey.

"A skateboard!" he cheered. He was now bounding along beside her, much like Huey did, as they walked down the city street. "Porter told me he'd get me one!"

"What are you giving him?"

"I dunno. I never really got him anything because he doesn't need much. All he does is ride that train…"

"Have you ever ridden it?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Dunno."

It was getting pretty late and was even starting to snow a bit. June got Champ a milkshake at the diner and reminded him to behave himself before she headed for the station. She had to get to work the next day, which was finally Friday again.

As she rode the bus, she thought a lot about how she really hated her job with Nook. Not only was the pay dreadful, but the hours were getting worse. She had definitely improved her upper-body strength since starting, but it was still a pain.

She got to the station just as the train was about to leave with another passenger from the city. Porter saw her, however, and kept the door open. To her shock, June saw that the passenger was none other than Tortimer.

"Good evening, Mr. Mayor," she greeted with a smile.

"Well, hello, there, whippersnapper!" the mayor gave a hearty reply. "You must be the one who moved to Thornville right before Thanksgiving! Yes, yes. I saw you at the end of the table with Pawpi and Andy. Yes, yes."

"Yeah! Wow! I can't believe you remember all that!"

"Excuse me?! What, you think just because I'm a little up there in years—"

"No, no!" June said quickly. "That's not what I meant at all! I just meant… I'm _honored_ that you remember me!"

"Oh, yes, quite."

Gabe was right: he _was_ easily offended.

"I trust you know about the Midwinter Festival?"

"Toy Day?"

"No, silly! December 21st is the Midwinter Festival! It's just a celebration of winter, my dear. We take in the beautiful sight of the snow and icicles, make snowglobes, ice sculptures…"

"Sounds like quite the event!"

"Oh, it is indeed! I've been having it ever since I became mayor!"

"Well then, I wouldn't miss it!"

"There's a fine chap!" The train had stopped at Rosetown. "Well, this is my stop, my dear. Farewell until the Midwinter Festival. And be sure to say hello."

"I will, sir. Good-bye."

And with that, Tortimer left. June smiled as she watched him hobble off into the distant darkness. He was a sweet old man, and very smart. He was a great mayor.

At her stop, she hurried off the train and to her home, against the bitter cold of the winter night. She fell asleep comfortably in her hammock, only to be awoken by the morning sun the next day.

"Thank goodness it's Friday…" she said with a sigh. She dressed quickly in her uniform and stepped outside.

Snow was falling once again, piling up on the walkways. She slipped a few times on the way to Nook's, but never fell, to her relief. She was actually able to use the slippery ice to her advantage as she delivered a larger box that she had to push. It was a new wardrobe for Vivian, who took it and gave her some sunglasses in return. "These shades are _so_ last summer, Hatchling. I plan to get new ones after the new year at the Able Sisters'. You know, I'm moving to Rosetown shortly after the Midwinter Festival."

"You are?" June paused before leaving. "That's too bad, but I guess I'll still get to see you when I visit Rosetown."

"Of course, Hatchling."

June pondered this as she headed back to Nook's. Vivian was going to move. She wasn't one of her closer animal friends, but she was still a good neighbor. It was a shame she had to leave. But, she also noted, she told her. She knew in advance. What about Pauly? Why didn't _he_ know? Then, June realized something rather bleak: maybe he did.

She arrived at Nook's in time to see him packaging a ping-pong table. She sighed. That box was even bigger than Vivian's wardrobe. Then she smirked at herself. _Now don't exaggerate, June. Nothing is bigger than Vivian's wardrobes._ She took the package from Nook and headed for the door. It was to go to Chip.

At the hill leading downward to the lower level of the neighborhood was Huey and Pawpi. "What on earth are you two doing?" she asked.

"Sledding, of course!" Huey showed her the flattened cardboard box he was riding on.

"Arf! That looks like quite a sled you have there yourself, June!" Pawpi pointed out.

She looked at the package she was dragging behind her. She didn't have any problem dragging it across the snow. So why not. "That is an awesome idea." She put it at the edge of the hill. "Nook would kill me if he knew what I was doing." She lay across it. "Here goes nothing!"

"I'll give you a push," Pawpi nudged the box forward. It slid easily across the icy snow, and she continued sliding past the hill.

"Oh no!" She was spinning out, just glancing the Cliffside that marked the end of the neighborhood. She spun into the next acre, eventually coming to a stop on the salted cobblestone in front of the police station. Officer Copper was looking down at her. "Um… sorry, officer."

Pawpi and Huey came down after her. "Man! Arf!" was all Pawpi could say.

"That was so sweet, Hippity-Hop!" Huey was bouncing up and down like a pogo stick.

"Are you alright, miss?" Copper asked.

"Yes. Again… so sorry."

"Not a problem. As long as you aren't injuring yourself or anyone else."

"Came pretty close," June admitted. She double checked the packaging. Aside from some scrapes, the box was fine.

"Arf… How mad do you think Nook would've been if you broke the ping-pong table?" Pawpi asked.

"I could handle him… I'd be concerned about Chip's temper."

Pawpi laughed. "Hey Huey, let's help her the rest of the way."

"Sure thing!" Huey agreed.

After that delivery, the rest of the day passed without another slip. Friday was over, and the weekend was here. On top of that, June found out that she would be let out of work early on Tuesday in order to attend the Midwinter Festival.

On that day, 2:00pm could not come fast enough. But Nook held her a little over. "You'll have plenty of time for the festivities," he said in answer to her constant glances at the clock. "They go on all day!"

June wasn't freed from her duty until after a package was delivered to Andy, after 3:00. She left it at his gyroid. "Is Andy at the Festival?"

"He CeRtAiNlY iS," it replied.

She smiled and headed for the train station. She boarded the empty train and headed to the front where Porter was.

"Good day, eek EEK!"

"Hello, Porter," she smiled. "Figure out what you're going to do with your brother yet?"

"I've been thinking about it non-stop, June! Um… still… if you can't handle it…"

"Nonsense, Porter. You do this all year round. What's three days for me?"

He nodded.

"And besides. Champ would really like to see you. I haven't told him it was happening yet."

"Neither have I. I want it to be a surprise!"

June grinned. "A perfect Christmas gift!"

"For me, June." He looked at her gratefully. "Thank you."

When the train stopped at Rosetown, she headed off, south to the wishing well. "Hey there, Crocodile!" Sidney caught her mid-way there. He had just crossed the bridge. "June! Long time no see, Crocodile!"

"Hi, Sidney," she walked side by side with him. "Yeah, unfortunately I don't get much chance to come to Rosetown as often as I'd like to."

"Well, down the hill here is Daisy. I was going to go pick her up on my way to the festival. We couldn't go at the start, so we're finally getting around to it now!" He knocked on a door at the bottom of the hill.

"Coming, Quacker!" a voice called from inside. A little later, a yellow duck with a daisy on her head came out. "Oh, who's this?"

"Hi. I'm June," she held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Quacker! The name's Daisy!" She shook her hand. "Are you new in town?"

"Actually, I'm from Thornville."

"Oh! Then you must know Ginger! She's a great friend of mine! We write each other all the time!"

"Yeah, Ginger's one of my best friends in town!"

"Oh, how marvelous!"

The three of them finally made it to the wishing well. June had never seen so many animals. She scanned the crowd for her Thornville friends, who were equally scattered among animals she only recognized from Totakeke's concert awhile ago. Then, she got a look at Tortimer, who was instructing Gabe and a grey elephant on how to make their own snowglobe. The elephant seemed to be having trouble, because Gabe kept turning to him and helping him out.

She approached the small table. "Ah, June!" Tortimer greeted her right away. "You haven't forgotten about me!"

She shook his hand, "Never, Mr. Mayor! I couldn't wait to see you at this festival!"

Gabe winked at her.

"May I make a snowglobe?"

"Absolutely, my dear!" Tortimer gave her the pieces. He also pointed out a snowglobe with a sandy island inside. It even had a palm tree and a little hut. "My vacation home," he explained. "See how I made the base like this?" He went on to explain every detail of making the snowglobe, even though perhaps only three simple steps were necessary.

"Welcome to Tortimer's annual Midwinter's Day," Gabe said, pouring the water in his snowglobe. "Hope you're not scared away yet."

June laughed. "Nah, it takes a bit more than that to scare me away after everything I've already seen."

"Um… Gabe? *snort*" the elephant tapped his shoulder and showed him his snowglobe. Somehow, he had managed to put the structure on the globe part instead of the base.

"Oh, Tantum!" Gabe sighed. "Did you glue it?"

"Yeah."

"I think it makes it unique," June cut in. She passed him the water to pour into the globe. "Don't you agree, Gabe?"

He smiled at her appreciatively. "Oh it's certainly unique."

Tantum smiled. "It's good? *snort*"

"Very good."

After attaching his base, Tantum skipped off with the globe.

"That was nice of you," Gabe noted.

"Well, it wasn't the end of the world," she shrugged.

"June!" Ginger came over. "I heard you met Daisy."

"Oh, yeah. Sidney introduced us."

"Oh man! You need to meet my other neighbors!" Gabe exclaimed. He practically dragged her by the arm over to a grey wolf that was sitting at the base of the well. "June, this is Hal. Say hello to June, Hal."

"I'm trying to enjoy some cocoa, Grumble…" he took a sip from his mug.

"He's a bit of a grump, but really nice if you have the patience to talk to him."

He led her to the blue bird from Totakeke's concert who was talking to a white poodle.

"This is Alex," he gestured to the bird, "and Flora," to the poodle. "Guys, this is June. She's from Thornville."

"Nice to meet you, Cheep!" Alex extended his wing.

"A pleasure, Mm-hmm…" Flora added.

"And you already know Sidney," Gabe pointed toward the alligator, who was talking with Andy rather excitedly. "And Tantum, you kinda met."

"The elephant," June said, but her gaze was on Andy. He actually seemed to be having a decent time.

"Yep!"

"Hey, Gabe…" she looked at him.

"What's with that look?"

"I… uh… I was wondering if you could tell me a little about Andy. I want to get him something for getting me my hammock… but I haven't been able to repay him yet. I figured a really good Christmas gift…"

"That's really hard, June." Gabe scratched his head. "And I'd hate to have you spending what little bells you have."

"But I need to pay him back!"

"June, when he gave you that hammock, I doubt he expected you to pay him back."

"What?"

"I know you can't really see it now… but Andy's a really nice guy. He really is. He's a good friend, a compassionate neighbor. You may not think he sees you as a friend, June, but I'm more than certain he does."

"R-Really?"

"Without a doubt."

She looked over at him. "Then why do I always feel like he hates me?"

"You two just have to get to know each other. Which should be easy, since you live right next door to each other, right?"

"Maybe easy for you to _say_."

She got to spend time with each of her Thornville friends as well as some of her new Rosetown friends. She decided she drank way too much cocoa, and picked up her snowglobe to prepare to leave.

Andy looked at her snowglobe curiously, "What's that?"

She looked inside it. "Well, I tried my best to make both Thornville and Rosetown, with the train between. And here's K.K. Slider… and Ginger and Pawpi listening to him. Here's you and me coming out of our houses. Gabe's poking his head out of the train…"

Huey interrupted her, "Whoa, June! You've got everyone there!"

"Y-Yeah… or at least I tried. Some of them just look like colored specks."

"That's really cool, Hippity-Hop!"

"Thanks Huey. I really wanted to put in everything I love about my new home. And I couldn't do that without including everybody." She looked up at Andy and smiled.

He gave a small smile and a nod. "I'll go with you back to Thornville," he told her. "I have an early fishing day tomorrow."

She grinned and the two of them headed for the train.

When they got on, Rover was there. "Hey, strangers!" he sat by them. "Andy! It's been too long since we've talked, buddy!"

"And yet not long enough," Andy mumbled under his breath.

June stifled a giggle.

After a torturous ten minutes for the both of them, they arrived in Thornville and headed their separate ways to their houses. "Thanks," June waved.

With a grunt, Andy took his package from his gyroid and went inside.

June was exhausted, but she looked up at the stars for awhile longer before going in. She saw Pauly's constellation up there, as well as the other constellations Celeste had in her charts. For such a bleak winter's day, the world sure was beautiful.

The next day was no less beautiful, as new snow was falling in large, shining flakes. She hurried to Nook's half-drenched by the snow. He was pacing across his floor. "You're late!" he growled as she entered.

"I am?" she looked at the clock. How could it already be 9:30? "I'm so sorry! I must've gotten in later than planned last night and slept through—"

"No excuses! Just stay later today, unless you want me to take back the 23rd as a work day!"

"No, sir."

He was in a rather sour mood. She wondered if it was only because of her tardiness, or whether something else was going on. She also decided she did not want to ask. A phone call came in, and Tom Nook called for her to answer it. "Hello?" she spoke into the phone.

"June? Still working for Nook, huh?" the voice on the other end belonged to Rover.

"Yeah."

"Man, he's working you to the bone! Can I talk to the knuckle-head? I have an answer to the question he asked me yesterday. Tell him that. Tell him the answer is absolutely, provided he has the cash."

She covered the mouthpiece and called to Nook. "It's Rover. He says the answer is yes if you have enough money."

Nook shot out of the back room like a torpedo. "Give me that!" he grabbed the phone from her. "Hello? Yes. Yes. _Yes_! Ha, ha! I told you I'd come through! Nook'n'Go will be new and improved in no time! Say hello to _Nookway_! Ha ha!" He hung up the phone. "Now all I need to do is talk to Tortimer, and I will be set! Yes, yes, yes!"

And from that point forward, June's bleak prospects of the day just got a whole lot brighter. Nook was in such a good mood, he forgot all about her late arrival. However, because he was saving bells for his expanded store, he was as cheap as ever.

But by the end of the day, June didn't care. As soon as he let her, she flew out of the store and straight to the train station. Porter came in with the next train and beamed when he saw her. "I see you didn't back out, eek EEK!" he said.

"No way. Not for a million bells."

"Really? Even with how Nook's working you?"

June thought about that. "Okay, maybe for a million bells."

They laughed, and Porter led her to the control area. "You have to be at the station at 7:00am every day," he told her. He went on to explain the controls and buttons. He told her she could call him at any time with the emergency radio. He also pointed out a few instructions for unlikely emergency situations. "Now… you sure you've got this, eek, EEK?"

"Absolutely."

"Good luck, June." He waved as she went back home to get an early start on sleep. "I really do appreciate it!"

"Have fun with your brother, Porter! And tell him Merry Christmas from me!"


	8. Chapter 8

-Chapter 8-

Porter's Days Off

June looked at the buttons in front of her. Porter had said he hardly needed them. They were just for emergencies. Otherwise the train rode smoothly and automatically. The only one she needed to know to press was the button to go. That button shut the doors and started the train up to the next stop. If a passenger needed to go somewhere besides Rosetown or Thornville, June already knew about the other machine that notified the train of an additional stop.

"Hey, June!" Rover peeked in, frightening her.

"Hi, Rover," she smiled. "Are you ever _not_ on this train?"

He laughed. "Seems like I'm always going back and forth!"

"Why? Don't you have someplace to live?"

"I do. I live in the city. But… well… let's just say I'm not so eager to get back there."

"How come?"

"Well, actually, it all started with Nook!"

"Nook?"

"Yeah, my buddy Nook was the first one, after all."

"First what?"

"I remember just like it was yesterday…" Rover began. "Of course," he interrupted himself, "I remember just about everything that's ever happened to me like it happened within the week. That's why I always get messed up on what day and time it is, I guess." He gave that laugh that June came to know so well.

June just rolled her eyes. This story may last her whole shift today, but that was alright. How else would she entertain herself?

"Anyway, you should have seen him! Nook was barely older than a pup, and he hopped right off that train as I was about to get on. 'Course, I wasn't any older than he was. Ah, those were quite the days. I used to ride the rails endlessly, let me tell you!"

"Um… Rover? You still ride the rails endlessly," June reminded him.

"Hm…" he thought for a moment. "I guess that's true." He laughed again. "Stay young at heart, I suppose!"

"Sure."

"Anyway!" he said again. "When I saw the look on his face when he looked up at the city, I decided he looked just helpless enough that I should help him!"

"Nook looked helpless?" This time it was June who interrupted, trying to picture the tycoon as a tyke.

"Oh, yeah. You'd be surprised, June. So, I gave the little guy a tour of the city. Poor guy didn't have a place to lay his head when all was said and done, either. Remind you of anyone?" Rover winked as he hinted.

June smiled sheepishly. "I guess it's not so bizarre then, huh?"

Rover laughed again. "Oh, it's bizarre, alright. But luckily for Nook, I had just the place for him… My house!"

"You gave him your house?!"

"It's more like a room, really. It's an apartment, after all."

"And you let him live there?"

"He didn't have any money. And, like I said, I was going to be riding the rails for awhile. You'd be surprised how many animals I let in since then. Totakeke included. That was when he was just getting started."

"That's so generous, Rover!"

"Well…" he turned a bit red. "They do owe me favors afterwards…"

"Well, thanks to you, I got a home from Nook!" _And a full-time part-time job that's pure torture…_ but she decided not to mention that.

"Actually, when he decided to get out of the city and move to Thornville, I was quite shocked."

"Why's that?"

"Well, you know Nook. He's all about the bells. But all Mr. Tortimer could afford was a small shop in one acre. Nook would have to expand himself and supply himself. He should have stayed in the city. Sure, he'd have competition, but…"

"Hm…" June mumbled. "Was he afraid of competition?"

"Who isn't?" Rover scratched his head. "But I could just tell there was something more to it."

"Something more… Like what?"

"Beats me! I was never close enough with him to ask."

June was always interested in the stories that the animals had to tell her. Learning about Rover's life in the city was certainly interesting as well. Who knew he had so many favors lined up for himself. She wondered about how far those favors got him in life. If he had the power to get her a house, who knew what else he could call in?

But that was about as eventful as the first day was for June. At 1:00AM, June was replaced by a grouchy brown mole who mumbled something about wanting an underground train and six hours of his night wasted. Meanwhile, June had those six hours to sleep at the train station in Thornville.

She was back at work and totally exhausted at 7:00AM. "How does Porter do it?" she yawned. She had gained much respect for that little monkey.

"Stop complaining!" the grouchy rodent shouted, and he dug back down to his home to get some sleep, no doubt.

Rover was back again, laughing with pity at her tired countenance and offering her a to-go coffee from the Roost. As Rover cannot stand small towns, she decided to spare him. "Besides," she said, "my friends will be riding today to say hi."

Sure enough, Gabe had the same idea as Rover, and June was soon enjoying a nice cup of coffee with pigeon milk. Brewster had apparently sent it on the house, as he believed what June was doing for Porter to be a great thing.

June discussed with her friend an idea of getting someone else to help Porter all the time. "This conductor job is exhausting for him! And he's never home and can never visit the towns or cities he stops at! I think this shouldn't be a two-animal job like this. If and when I ever get out of Nook's service, I'll certainly do this. Maybe me, Porter, and… um… that brown mole can switch off!"

"Resetti?" Gabe asked.

"Who?"

"The mole. His name is Resetti. Yeah, I had the misfortune of meeting that guy." He smiled and chuckled. "Pleasant, isn't he?"

"You took the train in the wee hours of the morning?"

"Andy, Pauly, and I made the mistake of taking Resetti's train to the city. I swear he charged us extra."

When Gabe left, Vivian came on. She was moving to Rosetown that day.

"I hope you have a good time in the other town!" June told her. And she was able to say goodbye to her when she headed into Rosetown.

Next, Pawpi came on with Chip. June told them about her idea regarding Porter's work schedule. Chip suggested the cat do some of it too, since he's always riding the rails. June laughed, saying she had never thought of that.

When they got off, Ginger visited with Huey bounding in. Ginger suggested Huey for the job for the mere sake of him doing something with his energy. They all laughed when they realized that Huey would not be able to sit still at the controls.

June was exhausted by the end, but she had a great time with her friends. When she left the train with Resetti for the morning, she fell asleep with a huge smile.

It was the third and final day that brought the most excitement, though. And it promised to bring a great change to Thornville.

There was an animal coming from the city, June was notified. When the door opened, she welcomed him aboard. "Hi! All aboard! Next stop is Rosetown!"

When he sat down and the train started up again, June took another glance at him, soon staring. She had never seen him before, but she recognized him in that instant.

"Excuse me…" she started quietly, "but are you… Pauly?"

The blue eagle glanced up with a frightened expression. "H-How d-do you know that?" His stutter was disconcerting, and his voice was so timid, it was almost inaudible.

"I know some friends of yours."

"F-Friends?" He fidgeted. "I h-have no f-friends…"

"Now what kind of thing to say is that?"

"It's t-t-true." Pauly looked absolutely depressed.

"Where are you headed, Pauly?"

"R-Rosetown." It was still very early. June knew that no human or animal would be awake now. The train was empty besides Pauly. Not even Rover was on today. Pauly read her questioning look. "P-P-P-Picking fruit."

June had a feeling that Pauly did not normally stammer. She wondered what about her made him so nervous. Then, she realized what he said. "Fruit?" she repeated. "From your orchard?" Huey had guessed that no one picked any of the fruit anymore, but apparently that was not true.

"Yes."

"Pauly. Why did you move away from Rosetown?"

He fidgeted again. "H-Had to."

"Why?" June pressed. "You had friends there!"

"N-No, I didn't… I didn't…"

"Stop it!" June suddenly felt a little angry. "What about Gabe and Andy?" It was for their sake that she was angry. She did not even notice that the train had stopped at Rosetown's port.

But Pauly had. He left, having paid his toll when he entered.

June was confused as she pressed the button for the train to head for Thornville. Why didn't Pauly feel he had friends here? No one had mentioned any kind of falling out. June sat in the empty train for the next several minutes, as no one got on at Thornville. When the train came back to Rosetown, however, there was Pauly with his fruits.

"Mm," June hummed. "Those look delicious!"

Pauly paid his toll and sat down.

"You should visit Rosetown," June stated before the train started moving again. "Gabe and Andy miss you, you know."

"R-Really?" he seemed shocked.

"Of course! Why wouldn't they? Weren't they your best friends?"

"I never thought… we were that close…"

"You did everything together!"

"I didn't do much for them…"

"Huh?"

"E-Everything I tried to do for them… I failed. I even tried to catch a bee! Me! But I was so scared… and I got stung anyway. So when I had to move… I did so without a word…"

"Pauly… you don't have to _do_ something for them to be their friend. Sometimes just hanging out is enough." She sighed. "You should see how much Andy has changed. You _did_ do something. You were there for them. You laughed with them. You made that orchard with them!"

Pauly looked at her with glimmering eyes. "Y-Yeah… Yeah, I guess." He cocked his head to one side. "Did Andy really think of me as such a great friend?"

June was taken aback, then she remembered what Gabe had told her during the Midwinter Festival. Andy may not have shown it, but he saw her as a good friend too. Maybe Pauly was as blind as she had been. She finally smiled and looked Pauly straight in the eye as she assured him, "The best."

"You know…" he saw his stop coming up. "The city really is very crowded… can't really… make friends though."

"You know what I think?" June asked as the train screeched to its halt. "I think it's about time you moved."

Pauly smiled. "I'll get my things."

"Meet me before Resetti's shift, and we'll go all aboard for Thornville. We'll have you home in no time… in fact, just in time for the day after Christmas!" _Not too bad for not knowing what to get those two boys for Christmas,_ she added to herself.

Her last day was not nearly as tiresome. It sped along as fast as the train, and when Resetti finally made his way on, she waited at the bus area to the city. Three people came off the bus at 1:00. They were Porter, Champ, and Pauly.

Champ gave June a hug, "Thank you for my Christmas present, choo CHOO!"

"Did you get your skateboard?" June asked him.

"No," he shook his head. "I didn't want it anymore! Riding the train will be so much more fun!"

June looked up at Porter, who smiled at her, "He's going to ride with me sometimes. Keep me company… and we'll get to talk. I can't wait! Eek, EEK!"

" _That's_ what I got him for Christmas!" Champ chimed in. "Since you asked before."

"That's great, you two!" she patted Champ's head. "And I'm working to try to get you a break! This can't be just a two-animal job, Porter. We'll get you some employees!"

Porter smiled.

Before she left, Porter told June he couldn't ask for better days off. Glancing at Pauly, June replied that neither could she, and she and the blue eagle headed straight for Thornville and Andy's door when they got there. She finally found something to repay him. She finally found him the perfect Christmas gift.

"Well, there it is!" she gestured to Andy's house. "However, I know for a fact he's not usually an early riser. We'll have to wait until morning."

Pauly almost looked relieved. "I called for a home to be built. I'm gonna go there and get some sleep b-before…"

"Yeah, no problem." June wished him a good night's sleep, and she too was sleeping within the hour.

The next morning started late for June. By the time she woke, she could hear the clock striking halfway past 10:00. She jumped up with a start and ran for her door. She kicked herself for not finding out where Pauly's new house was, but all was amended when she saw him walking toward her. Upon seeing her, he stopped short, "Y-You know… I should be unpacking…"

"Come on, Pauly," June pushed him toward Andy's house.

"I-I don't know about this. I mean… is he angry with me? Oh my goodness! He's angry with me! I can't do this!"

June rapped on the door.

"What you do that for?! I said I couldn't do this!" He tried to get away, but June held him firmly by his upper wing.

Andy opened his door just a crack, as was his way. June grinned. "Good morning, Andy! And Merry Christmas!"

"Christmas was yesterday," he noted.

"Yes it was, but see… I couldn't get your gift until early this morning."

"My gift?"

June turned toward Pauly, who shook his head so violently she was sure his neck would break. She tugged, Andy widened the door, and Pauly shut his eyes tight, his head bowed in shame. "Merry Christmas, Andy!"

"…Pauly?" Andy's face was an expression of utter surprise. His eyes grew so wide, they were barely drooping anymore.

Pauly looked up at him carefully. "H-Hey, Andy."

Then, Andy did something that surprised the other two. He wrapped Pauly in a huge hug. "This… this…" he couldn't even speak.

"You're not… mad at me?" Pauly asked.

"I'm glad you're back! How long are you staying?"

Pauly grinned. "Forever!"

Andy gaped at him. "What?"

"I've got a new home in Thornville! Acre E-5." June made a mental note of that. "Hopefully… I'm here to stay this time."

Andy gave him another hug, then turned to June. "How? How did you…?"

"He's been going to your orchard… picking the fruit. "He rode the train every morning… and just happened to ride it a little later than usual when I was running it."

"June… you're incredible. Thank you!"

June blushed but waved it off. "I owed you for awhile now, so just consider it your payment plus interest!"

Without much more hesitation, the three of them were on the train headed for Thornville. When Gabe saw Pauly, his reaction was much the same as Andy's. The three of them were just like old times, June was sure of it. With a smile, she turned to go, but Andy stopped her. "Where are you going?"

"Back home. I figured you guys could hang out for awhile, and—"

"Not without you!" Gabe insisted.

"But I…"

"You're now one of us, June! Don't you forget it!"

They invited her to join them in the orchard. Her eyes grew wide at all the different fruits, and Pauly urged her to take a few for Thornville. "We'll make a new orchard! Over in Thornville, F-Friend! What do you say?"

"That would be great! Fresh fruit every morning! More than just our everyday cherries!"

Before she knew it, she was back on the train again. The four of them spent most of the day planting the fruits. Pauly had to get his shovel from his house, but they all shared in the labor. Even Huey came by, excited to see Pauly again. June all but forced him to stay and help with the orchard. He got Ginger to come as well, and Ginger got Pawpi. Pretty soon, the whole neighborhood was there when the orchard was finished. They all patted June on the back for everything she'd done, and she was able to talk with a lot of them about Porter's job.

"I can help with that, F-Friend!" Pauly volunteered.

"Really?"

"Really."

She smiled at him.

"Hey, speaking of the train… you didn't get to celebrate Christmas with the rest of us!" Gabe remembered.

"Yeah! Arf!" Pawpi winked at him. "And we got you something!"

"You did?"

"It's from all of us, sweetie," Ginger added.

"You didn't have to…"

"Of course we did, Hippity-Hop!" Huey bounced.

"But… I barely could afford much for you all… I barely got you anything!"

"You brought Pauly back. That's a gift to everyone. And after how much you've helped so many people in these neighborhoods… You deserve something special."

They handed her a large package. "Don't worry, _we'll_ be making the delivery," Gabe told her. They all carried it back to her house.

When she opened it, she gasped. "Oh… guys…" It was a flat-screen TV. "You didn't have to…"

"So you keep telling us," Gabe smiled.

June hugged each of them. Even Andy accepted her sign of affection.

Pauly tried to sneak out, but June caught him and followed him out. "Hey, where are you going?" she asked.

"Don't worry, I'm not moving again," he smiled. "I just have to unpack."

"I'll help," Andy poked his head out of the door.

"Me too!" Gabe poked out too.

"That's okay, guys… I'll be fine. I want to invite you over when I'm all moved in."

"Okay…" Gabe reluctantly agreed.

After he left, some of the others left too. Soon, the only ones left were Gabe, Huey, Pawpi, and Ginger. They were listening to one of K.K.'s songs: K. K. Salsa. "So this is Pauly's favorite, huh?" June asked.

"Yeah, you should see him attempt to dance to it!" Gabe laughed.

"Two left feet on that one," Huey added.

June was glad to see everyone so happy. She sat back in the ranch chair and smiled. Had she really connected with everyone and made them happy? Brewster was a dear friend now. Totakeke was always happy to see her. Porter was finally able to spend time with his brother, and he would have more time in the future if things went as she planned. And now, she had brought Pauly back to Gabe and Andy.

She sat up suddenly.

"Whoa? What's up?" Gabe asked.

"Nook and the Able sisters…" she said simply.

Gabe shifted. "What about them?"

"Well… I want to make things right between them."

Pawpi, Ginger, Huey, and Gabe looked at her.

"Gabe, will you help me?"

Gabe looked around at the others, who were now looking at him, "Um… Sure?"

"Good. We need a plan."


	9. Chapter 9

-Chapter 9-

Happy New Year!

The day had finally arrived. It was time for the double-town New Year's celebration. Tortimer had pulled out all the stops. There was a big countdown reflected in Thornville's lake. Gabe, Andy, and Pauly were over by the station, listening to K.K. He would be back the next day, as it was Saturday, but Tortimer had requested him for the celebration. Even the owls of the museums were here, ordering drinks from Brewster's small stand. Other animals were scattered about, laughing and eating, occasionally stealing a glance at the countdown.

June had a mission though. It was now or never. This was the only time when the Able Sisters would be here in Thornville, and she knew Tom Nook would not leave town. She ran across the bridge, waving to the train that was coming in upon seeing Porter's smile within it. His brother was bouncing beside him, she also saw.

She burst through Nook's shop door, startling the raccoon. "June! What in heaven's name?"

"Aren't you going to be joining in the festivities?" she asked casually.

"Um…" Nook was trying to think of an excuse, but June was ready to counter.

"I'm sure the mayor would much appreciate you joining in on the celebrations and allow you more luxuries in your business. Aren't you trying to expand your store again?"

"Well… I guess so…"

"Come on!" She practically dragged him out of his store. Pausing only to let him lock up, they headed toward the station and the countdown. June kept her eye out for Gabe. He was supposed to grab the sisters and planting them strategically.

She caught sight of him. He was talking to Mabel over by the countdown, and Sable was right beside. She made sure to keep Nook away from them…for now.

In the meantime, she said hello to Tortimer, who gave her a noisemaker. "It's good to see you again, whippersnapper!" he added.

"Hey, June!" Gabe approached her, with a yellow squirrel behind him. "Don't worry, I made Mabel aware of our plan," he said when June gave him a startled look.

Her look became worse. "You what?" she asked.

"She's all for it!" he assured her.

She glanced over at the blue porcupine, who winked and gave a thumbs up. "This will be a disaster…"

"Oh come on, give her more credit. Besides, I just left to introduce you to Uan." He gestured to the squirrel behind him.

She tried to remember when he had mentioned that name before.

"He's from the island."

"Oh, right! Of course!" She extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Uan. I'm June."

"Nice to meet you, too, nut!" He grinned, which made his buck teeth look even bigger. "Man, what a party! I'm so glad I could come! I usually don't get off my island!"

"Wow, that's a shame."

"Nah, I love it there! Shaking palm trees, finding random cash that comes around, swimming in the ocean… It's all great!" He patted Gabe on the back so hard, June was sure he would have fallen if he wasn't ready for it. "And Gabe here visits me a lot, nut! So I'm never lonely!" His eyes grew wide and he grabbed her arms. "Say, you should visit too! It'll be fun, nut!"

Gabe gave her a pitying glance, then they went away. A few minutes later, Gabe returned without the squirrel. "Sorry about that. He's like a kid," he explained.

"No worries."

"He's an interesting little guy, but I wouldn't call him one of my best friends."

June smiled. "Well, it's nice of him to invite us to his own little island."

"True."

"So, how's Pauly? Is he getting back into the swing of things?"

"Getting back into the swing of things? Of course!"

"Good. Glad to hear it."

Gabe studied her face. She tilted her head.

"What?"

"He was nervous to come back, wasn't he?"

She was taken aback. "How did you know that?"

"Because I know Pauly. Poor guy was always tripping over himself trying to please people. He kinda reminds me of you a little bit, only you're not quite so nervous all the time. He probably felt like he let us down, moving away."

"He felt like he let you down _before_ he moved away."

"The bee, huh?"

"You know about that?"

"I could see it on his bee-stung face."

"It's good that you guys aren't holding the move against him. It's really good for him."

"It's also really good for him that he can call you a friend now, June. You'll be hanging out with us a lot more, right?"

"Me? I'm not a part of your original trio…"

"Well, now you're a part of our new original… um… quatro…"

June laughed. "If you say so."

"Come on, let's listen to K.K.! I'm sure Nook's gonna be staying awhile." He gestured over her shoulder, where Nook was in a deep conversation with Tortimer, who was nodding approvingly. "And Mabel will keep an eye on her sister. She wants them to solve this issue as much as you and I do." June looked over at the sisters. Mabel was talking excitedly about something, and Sable was listening patiently.

June followed Gabe over to K.K. Slider, who had just finished playing K.K. Salsa for Pauly. "Ah, June. How are you?"

She nodded, "I'm good, Totakeke. It's good to see you could make it."

"Ah, always ready to please my fans. What can I play for you?"

"Um… actually, I haven't heard K.K. Country for awhile. It'll be nice to hear it again."

"As you wish." He strummed the intro, and pretty soon, he was playing and singing. When he was done, his small audience applauded, then looked at the countdown. There was a little more than two hours left. The plan was in place to get Nook and Sable together an hour before the stroke of midnight. Then, they could start the year off on a good note.

June stood, "I'm going to go get a coffee from Brewster. I'll be back."

At his little stand, Brewster looked just the same as he always did at the shop, only this time, he had no mugs to wipe. "Good evening, June. Coo."

"Hi, Brewster. I'll take my usual."

"Coming up."

"You seem to be getting a lot of business tonight."

"It's good that the mayor let me put my stand up here. The animals are getting to know my business."

"That _is_ good!" June agreed. "You'll be a hit!"

"With K.K. and this new publicity, I don't know what to do! Coo…"

"Keep doing what you do best, Brewster. Make great coffee for your many guests."

He smiled and handed her the drink. "I do have some very wonderful guests."

She returned his smile and went back to join her friends in front of Totakeke.

After a few more songs, it was time. She went to find Nook, who was still talking to Tortimer. "Hey, boss," she whispered. "Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to ask you something…"

He looked down at her, "Hm?"

"Can you come and see something? I have a question for you…"

"Um…" He cleared his throat to hide his confusion. "Certainly, my little worker-bee! I'm coming—" He stopped and stared. June knew without turning that Gabe had done his part well. She looked behind her, and there they were, the Able Sisters.

Sable had the same expression on her face as Nook. Mabel came in between them, "Isn't this great, ya'll? We can let bygones be bygones for the new year! Out with the old, in with the new!" She looked back and forth between them. "Right?"

Nook glared at June. "This is _your_ doing, isn't it?"

June swallowed, but stood her ground. "Mr. Nook… it pains me to see how such close friends could get so distant from each other… What happened?" she asked.

Nook's glare softened into a small defeated look, something her boss did not wear well. He balled his paws and looked Sable straight in the eye. "I don't need to explain myself to y—" he faltered. Gabe stepped forward to say something, but June grabbed his arm and shook her head.

Sable was looking at him with those droopy eyes. June couldn't read her as well as she'd like, as she barely knew her, but she could've sworn those eyes were pleading. Nook must have seen it too.

He sighed and hung his head. "I… I owe you an explanation."

Sable waited.

"When I left," Nook started, "I was so excited. I didn't have any intention to come back…" June could hear Gabe exhale, but he was staying quiet under her grip. "When I heard…" he stopped and raised his head, quickly saying, "I never meant to abandon you, Sable." His head dropped down again, and he spoke slowly and gently now, "I just didn't want to end up going back and staying back. It was selfish of me, I know." He looked up again. "I moved to Thornville afterwards because I was too afraid to face you… but I still wanted to keep close… if you ever needed me. There!" he said with sudden volume. "I said it! I've been too stubborn to admit it, but there it is. I'm—" he sighed, "sorry, Sable."

Sable looked at him, her drooping eyes forming tears, her freckled cheeks forming a small smile. Mabel grinned widely and cheered inaudibly. Gabe peered at Nook and nodded. June closed her eyes and sighed lightly. She had done it. Nook was a better tanuki now, she knew.

Mabel finally ran to Nook and wrapped him in a hug that was obviously uncomfortable for the raccoon. Gabe and June looked at each other, smiled, and looked up at the countdown.

They watched the numbers drop lower and lower.

Pawpi, Andy, and Pauly joined them. "Looks like you figured it out, June," Pawpi nodded towards Nook and Sable. Sable was smiling gently as Nook was talking. Mabel was grinning so wide, the animals thought her face would hurt in the morning. "Arf! What a way for them to start the New Year!"

Andy nodded, putting an arm around Pauly. "What a way for us all to start the new year, thanks to June."

"Here's to June!" Gabe cheered, making noise with his noisemaker.

"Hey, whippersnapper!" Tortimer called from in front of the clock. "Not yet!"

Gabe chuckled. "Well, here's to you, June. We all owe you."

June shook her head. "You guys don't owe me anything," she insisted. "Just happy to help."

There was one minute left until the New Year…

June closed her eyes, feeling the nipping breeze blow across her face, hearing the crunch of the snow under her boots, and smelling the food that was still out for the celebration. This, she determined, was her favorite day so far. And as much as the countdown was anticipated, she didn't want it to end.

"Thirty seconds, June!" she felt Pawpi nudge her, and she opened her eyes to look up at the clock. 25 seconds… 24… 23…

She looked around at her friends. She'd only been here a little more than a month, and had already fit in nicely with them. Sure, she had a frustrating job, but even that didn't bother her right now. She was happy. She was home.

"Ten! Nine!" she chanted with the others. "Eight! Seven!" They all huddled together. "Six! Five!" She gave a slight glance toward Nook and Sable, who were so close they were almost touching. "Four! Three!" The train came in, and she saw Porter, Champ, and even Rover look out to call out the countdown. "Two! One! Happy New Year!" Every animal cheered. The ones that had noisemakers used them.

"What's your new year's resolution, sweetie?" she heard Ginger ask behind her.

"To finish work so I can get to my life!"

Tom Nook's ears pricked. She blushed. Had he heard her?

He approached her. "June…" he said.

She looked at him.

"You're long overdue for this, but… You've paid off all your debt."

"Really, Mr. Nook?"

"Yeah. And here," he held out a bag of bells. "Payment for the last week."

"Wow! Thanks, Mr. Nook!"

Gabe smiled and patted her on the shoulder. Andy did the same, on the other side.

Nook continued, "Be sure to stop by my shop and buy something now that you're not working there!"

June giggled as he turned back toward the sisters.

Gabe told them he had to get going back to Rosetown, "All of these festivities made me exhausted, guys. I gotta go."

Andy shook his hand, Pauly gave him a hug, and June decided to walk him to the train station.

"Well," Gabe sighed before he hopped on the train, "looks like after getting around to helping with all _our_ stories… it's about time _your_ story can truly begin!"

June smiled and looked down at her week's pay. "Yeah, my life is just about ready to get started!"

"See you tomorrow night… or I guess later _tonight_ … for K.K. at the station!"

June saw him off and then headed back to her home. After a crazy couple of months, it was a brand New Year. After finding a way into the hearts of her neighbors and the other animals she knew, she found that she made a difference in their lives. Most importantly, her debt was paid, so now her life in Thornville could finally start. Gabe was right. It was time for her story to truly begin. :)

… _ **and who knows? I had such a fun time writing this story (back when I started and when I finally picked it back up a couple years later), I may continue into a sequel… if readers so desire it… So REVIEW! Any requests of non-OC's to explore? Maybe I can add a mayor to one of the towns so Tortimer only has one town to worry about! Or, if you don't want a sequel and just want a brand new AC story from scratch, that's also a possibility!**_


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